Star Wars: the Aberrant Son
by VictorKlayin
Summary: Ten years after the Battle of Yavin, a young arkanian wakes up on the moon of Nar Shaddaa with no memories, possessions, or even a name to himself. His only clue to his identity and his past lie with the relentless droid army which will stop at nothing to capture him (New chapters every Friday, the final work contains 44 chapters).
1. Chapter 1

Peace. Never again would it be so completely than in the first moments of his awakening, when he opened his eyes and stared around him in mute contemplation, without forming a single thought. Everything was perfect, everything was in its place, all was right and just.

Then he found he couldn't really remember why everything was right, or how had he come to be there, or even what was he doing in that place. Peace was shattered, never to return.

Should it mean something? That he was waking up in what seemed like a hotel bed in a cluttered room filled with blankets, turned-over chairs and a table so full of random objects there wasn't space for even one more datapad? Or that the room itself ended almost at the foot of his bed, with a bathroom so small he couldn't get in, or use, unless he left the door open?

Through the window, the sounds of the city filled the room with a cacophonic symphony that in itself explained why he'd woken up. Speeder cars and bikes of nearly every color lined up in dozens of airways that winded through thin skyscraper towers against a completely black sky, whose stars had probably been blotted out centuries ago by the huge 3-D outdoors and light posts littering the landscape. Only a large, yellowish disk shone above, too large for a moon of any safe size, which could only mean that it was a planet, and the city he was in lay on the moon.

Which moon, he couldn't tell. In fact, he could tell almost nothing save for what he saw. He knew nothing of what happened before waking up, or why he was dressed as if he had just been in a hospital. With growing terror, he found out that he didn't even know his own name.

Oddly enough, he knew what things were. The table, for instance, contained data cards and pads of various functions, many of which were credit chips. Taking all of those he could see, he managed to account for fifteen thousand three hundred and forty five credits. That seemed like much, but only in a dull, uninterested sense that he somehow knew that credits were useful, although he didn't really think they were that vital anyway.

Maybe he was a rich person. That would explain it. Maybe he had lived his whole life up to that point in luxury, and never had to worry about credits too much before.

More relevant than the credits, though, were the ID cards. At least twenty-five ID cards, though he noticed four more scattered around the place. That seemed like a lot of ID cards lying about. Too much, actually. In fact, maybe it could mean trouble. He picked up seven of those, the seven that had his face on them. Seven identities, seven names and likely seven backgrounds. Were all of them fake, or was his true identity somewhere in there? Some of the names felt wrong to him: Everron Malkran, Galrus Kalidor, Jyren Khurn, but others seemed to flow a bit easier in his mind's ear: Lui Kal Dana, Iven Lor Fan, Ean Van Tassel. No one name stood out completely right, though, as he would expect from his true name.

He needed a name, though, so he picked one at random. Ean Van Tassel. That's who he was going to be, at least until he found out what was going on with him.

Outside the room, narrow corridors made it almost impossible to walk without stumbling around a multitude of beings from nearly every sentient species, bumping into or pushing someone, yielding him a host of swearing in approximately twenty different languages. All door rooms were numbered, and by the movement of people coming and going he found it a safe assumption to consider this was a hotel. A somewhat run-down hotel, too, given that he himself could hardly fit in his room when lying in bed, and that more than half the people he saw smelled like bath was optional in their lifestyles.

The corridor opened up into a suspended passageway connecting two buildings, one of many such passages that crisscrossed the upper sections of town. Looking down, Ean measured the height of the passageway in something around three hundred meters until floor level, if that thing below was indeed floor level, and not just a very large passageway. Speeder cars passed over and below his passage, and people seemed to crowd everywhere.

So now what would he do? How could a guy with what seemed like a severe case of amnesia find out information about himself in a sprawling, utterly noisy megalopolis with fifteen thousand credits and seven probably fake IDs? Could he even trust someone? Anyone for that matter? He had to do something, but nothing he could do seemed at all effective. To be honest, he couldn't think of anything that would help him. He was more likely to get robbed than to find out any concrete information about himself. But then again, he had to do something. He just couldn't sit still.

A nearby sign read "The oily bantha, Nar Shaddaa's best stake underneath level prime". So, Nar Shaddaa's the name of the place. He knew about it. A city-moon orbiting Nal Hutta, capital of the galactic Hutt Space. Known for its indecent tolerance on crime and for being the preferred port of arrival of ten out of eleven smuggling operations. No deed was too low for Nar Shaddaa… and, maybe, to him as well.

At least now he knew something. He knew he had to leave this place. Anywhere in the galaxy was likely going to be better than staying in Nar Shaddaa.

Luckily, spaceports abound in Nar Shaddaa, both legal and illegal. It would actually be interesting to see what passes for an illegal spaceport in a place like this, but Ean decided to leave this academic curiosity for another opportunity.

One minute on an information kiosk had him enroute of a large local spaceport at walking distance for him. That, in itself, should probably mean something. Maybe he hadn't been long in Nar Shaddaa, and had arrived by way of that same spaceport. If that were the case, who knows, perhaps he would even find in there someone who had seen him.

Half way to the spaceport, Ean suddenly stopped walking. Something changed, though he couldn't tell exactly what. Everything around him still looked like a used-up version of scrap, people still walked both hushed and furtively, and the air still smelled like oil and piss, but there was an ethereal quality to the situation that suddenly changed, and for the worst. Ean halted, struck by a knowledge that simply popped into his mind.

 _You will be attacked. Now._

So he ducked, and as he did it, a blue blaster shot passed right over his head. People screamed, ran, as more shots followed. The raised passageway became a marathon for survival, and as Ean joined everyone else in darting away from there, a barrage of shots followed him from behind.

Ean jumped over a seat, only to have a shot pass beneath him. He ducked to the side, avoiding three more. Running as fast as he could, turning a corner, he risked a glance at his attackers.

Ten combat droids marched through the street, about thirty to forty meters away from him, but even from that distance, Ean could tell they were aiming at him. More than that. He knew which shots were going to hit him, so as they came, he shifted to his right, and managed to dodge them all.

Every shot he avoided, though, hit someone else. A rhodian fell beside him, shaking uncontrollably. A shot hit an ithorian in the eye and he went down screaming. A human girl who yelled as she ran, got a shot in her back and fell wordlessly.

Ean now ran through the large ramp that would take him into the spaceport. He veered to one side and avoided a shot, rolled to the other and one more shot passed him by. The sounds of the droids faded as he gained distance, but still they gave him chase. The passageways, now tinted in red light due to omnipresent alarms, became a stage for an upcoming all-out slaughter.

Only... not really, because no shot seemed to burn or even harm whomever it hit. Stun mode shots. Not only the droids were after him, they wanted him alive.

Security personnel and guard droids passed him by, and the droid army behind him now had to contend with whatever passed for spaceport security in Nar Shaddaa, likely hired thugs. They did open up space before him, and in the rush of panicked people, Ean ran past the spaceport's security checkpoints and into the gateway aisles. The blaster shots from the droids faded into the background to the point that the screams of panic drowned them. Maybe the droids wouldn't reach him anymore, maybe they would be detained by local security, but Ean would definitely not stay around to find out. He had bought himself precious little time to find a lift out of the planet. He had to use it.

Entering what seemed to be a waiting room with a small bar, he nearly stumbled into a human male that was just drawing his blaster. However, this human male seemed clean, wore a stylish jacket and carried a brand new blaster. Very out of place in Nar Shaddaa. Ean grabbed his arm and said.

"Are you a pilot?"

The human took a step back as he pulled his arm out of Ean's grasp, either because Ean almost charged into him or because the question came out so sudden. He blinked once and answered in a tone that sounded like he replied just because he didn't really had time to think about it.

"Yes."

"Help me." Ean said. "Get me out of here."

The man's eyes narrowed and Ean got the impression he immediately realized the droids were after him.

"I don't hand out free rides, kid."

"Please, you have to get me off this planet!"

"Kid, move along. Find a safe place."

The man shoved him aside and stepped outside the lounge.

"I can pay!" Ean screamed. Amid the carnage that neared them, his voice didn't even sound that loud.

"Really, kid, you should–"

Ean shoved every credit chip he had into the man's chest, and he stopped talking right there. The man ran his eyes through the credits, his expression softening, and even smiled as he looked back at Ean.

"Where to, boy?"

"Anywhere, really, but fast!"

The man looked out into the corridor. Blaster shots still sounded, closer and with less screams between them.

"Over there" The man pointed to a door at the back of the lounge.

"By the way" the man said as he strode though the hall "Name's Londo Zaani."

"Ean Van Tassel."

Ean and Londo shook hands in less than a second as they ran into the hangar bay.


	2. Chapter 2

Zeryn Dassul opened the hotel room and blinked once, twice before letting her newly purchased blaster cells fall to the floor.

He was gone. The hotel room was small enough that she searched it thoroughly just moving her eyes, and he was, in fact, nowhere. Not only that, but he took the credits. All of her credits.

Zeryn inhaled very slowly, trying to subdue a murderous intent that already threatened to overcome her. It was, after all, her fault. Leaving the boy alone like that. She had to know that at some point he would wake up. She just didn't consider that it would happen exactly while she was out shopping.

One way or another, he is bound to be very, very confused. He cannot have gone far, and she was, after all, an expert bounty hunter. She would find him, and her credits, promptly.

Zeryn collected what remained of her ID cards and datapads from the room and stuffed them in her pack. Outside the room, she approached the hotel bouncer, a male trandoshan clearly not chosen for the job for his wit.

"Have you seen a young male arkanian pass by, about 20 years old? He would be wearing white, clean clothing."

"I dunno… m'be…"

Did she still have credits in her? Yes, she still had one card with 200.

"What about now?" Zeryn placed the credit chip in the bouncer's pocket.

"Ah, yea… Arkanian, right? White hair, white eyes, not v'ry tall. Yea, I've seen 'im. Came outta hotel all confused, like. Went out that way. But you'd don't wanna go there, missy. Not now."

"How so?"

"Some big mess, 's what's like. Some big shootout in the port. Lotsa people down, they say. Still goin'."

Zeryn closed her eyes and squeezed her temples. They had found him. Again. Now the droid army was shooting its way towards him in the middle of Nar Shaddaa… Well, so much for thinking that a place this crowded would provide at least some cover. No. Coming to Nar Shaddaa didn't even buy them a day of respite.

She knew what she had to do. Of course she knew. Even if the kid hadn't ran with her credits, she would have to go after him, especially after all she'd been through. But as she ran towards the spaceport, not for the first time she considered running away and leaving him to be taken back to that horrid space station… and the contract be damned.

She didn't really consider this for long, though. It was, after all, the best contract of her life. A retiring-class contract. One of a kind. It even helped a bit that all of her team bit the dust it in this job. So yes, she would go after him and save him, again. She only hoped this time no one else would die to save him, because she was quite literally all he had left.

However, since hoping never paid her bills, as she ran she re-check her blaster pistols and set them to ion mode. Let's disable those droids, and who knows, maybe get the drop on a number of them.

It seemed that every security contractor in Nar Shaddaa converged into the spaceport. With all entries blocked, the flow of people who ran out of it, screaming and panicked, wasn't strong enough to prevent the officers from barging into the port, often shoving aside people who looked very wounded. From beyond the entrance, the sound of exchanging fire gave her the sense of entering into a war zone. There certainly seemed to be two armies fighting in there. It was bound to be gruesome.

However, she would never get in. Security droids kept reporters and scavengers away from the entrances, and she would not get past them. At least, not looking as she did. She managed to mingle into the crowd close enough to hear a group of soldiers going in wearing a specific insignia. Their leader announced to the security droids.

"We are the rotskull gang. On a contract by Dergo Hutt."

The security droid no more than glanced at them and let them pass. That was enough for Zeryn. Moving slowly away from the entrance, she closed her eyes, picturing in her mind the image of the rotskulls' armor and faces. She ordered her muscles to move, one by one, overlapping them through cartilage and shifting them under her skin. She stretched her skin and changed its color. At the same time, she clenched her jaw fighting off grunts of pain as little stings of agony coursed through her body. As she shifted her appearance, every color hue that changed, every muscle that moved paid its price in pain and a pungent agony that still pulsed within her well after she had finished the shift.

The result, though, was all she expected. Moments ago, she had been a human female that looked like a slut from the lower levels of Nar Shaddaa. Now, she was a hardened… rotskull… mercenary. The shift might be painful, but being a member of the only fully shapeshifting species in the galaxy had its perks.

Zeryn approached the same security droid and said.

"Rotskull gang. I got late."

The droid barely motioned for her to go in.

Right after passing the entrance, she concentrated again in changing her skin color and with a pang of discomfort removed the rotskull insignia from her armor. It would not do to have them identifying her as one of their members, when she didn't know the first thing about them.

The spaceport's main lobby went three stories high, and still the smell of burned flesh gave her pause. Zeryn skipped several bodies strewn across the floors and unconsciously ducked for cover when the first flashes of blaster fire showed up ahead. In the ramp leading up to the docks, an actual droid army fought against the loosely scattered Nar Shaddaa gangs. The security personnel had the numbers, but they fought without unity, every man for himself, while the droids battled as a single mind, united, tireless, fearless and relentless. She'd seen this before, and it had cost her the rest of her team. Maybe Nar Shaddaa's forces would win, but only because their numbers were greater and growing still. One way or another, though, those droids would inflict heavy losses on them.

She had to go through that hellhole to get to the boy. Of course she had. Why would it be any easier for her? Zeryn ran up to the ramp's entrance, where the brunt of the battle took place, and crouched for cover behind the wall. A blaster shot zipped past the entrance and burned the lobby wall opposite her.

Those were not stun shots anymore. The droids had likely switched to kill when they found that no shot would accidentally hit the boy. That explained the smell of burning flesh that threatened to release her of her lunch.

Even as a sharpshooter, as a member of the now-terminated Gorlen clan, she never had to face such an intense direct confrontation. She was no soldier… that kind of action was not for her. Zeryn much preferred shots in the back and at a distance. But oh… the contract… the money… her retirement. She had to pass through that battle. Every minute she delayed, the boy could either be getting himself a ride out of Nar Shaddaa, or a shot in the head, and that would be the end of her fortune.

Zeryn drew breath and ran into the ramp. She nearly stumbled on the bodies below as she scanned the place for possible cover. The droids had the security army pinned down, and Zeryn had to lay flat to evade the horizontal rain of blaster fire that came at her. She had taken less than four steps into the ramp, and already ducked for protection. How could she get past two armies, preferably uninjured, in time to find the boy? Every inch of the passage was target of a blaster from one of the armies.

She'd have to go through another route. Not the ramp… but which one?

A number of soldiers came up behind the droids, maybe twelve of them. Too few for the hundreds of droids they fought, but with the element of surprise, they did get to take down a number of the droids before retreating. More importantly, though, how have they managed to go around the droids? Who were these people?

More soldiers with the same insignia took cover on a Mon Calamari restaurant just at her right. The same team? Yes, the soldiers who just retreated came up from within the restaurant. Service passages. Of course. The restaurants had to have a kitchen, and the kitchen had to have a back door to the service corridors where supplies ran. That was her way through.

Zeryn poised herself for a dash, and when the smallest opening appeared amidst enemy fire, she darted through bodies, soldiers, overturned chairs and tables, and into the restaurant, bursting the doors to the kitchen and into a semblance of safety amidst the raging war.

Five soldiers from another gang stared at her. A gran with a heavy blaster opened his mouth to yell something, but Zeryn was already running past them through the back door.

The service corridor was wide enough that she could run unimpeded, and no bodies there could cause her to trip, so Zeryn kept moving away from the fight until the shots were no more than a murmur. She tried a random door back in through the passage, but found it locked. At the third locked door, she used her blaster as a master key, and went through a souvenir shop back in to the spaceport's main passage.

Here the blaster sounds, a little louder, got muffled by the cries and sobs of civilians who got cut off from the exits. Zeryn entered the corridors leading to the docks and halted.

This spaceport had dozens of docks. How would she find him in time? Looking for him dock by dock was not going to be effective. She needed access to the security cameras, and although she could try to slice her way into the camera feeds, why would she take the time and trouble when she could just walk into the feed room itself and find them from there. A small query on an information kiosk told her how to get there.

As Zeryn took the elevator to the restricted levels of the spaceport, she took note of the clothing and uniform people wore. There actually was a pattern to it, which meant that even in Nar Shaddaa, one could find a regular job if they wanted it. As she approached the entrance to the camera's monitoring station she paused at the corridor, closed her eyes and concentrated.

Again, she pictured her muscles and tendons and commanded their shift, as the color and texture of her skin switched to match an officer's uniform. Taking a few moments to gather herself after another bout of pain, she opened the door and entered the monitoring room as if she owned the place.

"What is going on here?"

The four operators in the room turned to her, eyes wide open. All of their screens showed the battle taking place at the ramp.

A duros who seemed to know who was who, stood up.

"And who are you?"

"Officer Karla Dar from the Fasul spaceport. We were called in to help with this mess. Why are all the screens showing the fight?

The duros glanced at the screens, somewhat confused.

"What else would they be showing."

"Have you not been briefed?" Zeryn put on her best tone of frustration "These droids are not attacking this port at random! They are after a specific person. You should be looking for whoever is it they want. Quickly, show the docks!"

"But, we…"

"Do it now or talk to the Hutts later. Your choice."

That got them to work. As the docks started popping up in the screens one by one, Zeryn set her blasters to stun as quietly as she could. When the last dock came up, she raised her guns.

Three shots had three operators down. Only an aleena operator who noticed her attack and raised his hands remained conscious.

"Please, don't shoot!" He begged.

"On the floor." Zeryn ordered. The aleena obeyed.

The screens cycled through the docks while Zeryn kept a blaster pointed at the aleena.

There is was, dock twenty one. The boy, unharmed, and a human male talked to someone through an intercom. A very stylish ship occupied that dock, a baudo-class yatch that one rarely saw on such run-down moon such as Nar Shaddaa.

"Get me audio for the feed on dock twenty one" Zeryn told the aleena. She had to drag him up so he would sit in his station. His chubby shaking hands typed a few commands in the keyboard before the room flooded with the sounds of dock twenty one.

"I am telling you we have the permit" the man was saying "I just need someone to come down here and talk this over with me… personally… if you get my meaning."

"All flights are grounded" The voice in the intercom said.

"I heard that before, but this is not a regular flight. Really. Just come over here for one second so we can have a little chat."

Zeryn smiled to herself. Could the man be trying to bribe the tower operator any more blatantly? Still, this being Nar Shaddaa, he just might make it.

"Cut that commlink" Zeryn told the aleena "I want it rerouted here."

"But… I can't…"

"Cut it" She said, poking his head with her blaster "This is the monitoring station. Of course you can do it."

The aleena turned at her with such a horrified expression that she almost pitied him. Almost.

"But… the regulations…"

Zeryn flicked a random, harmless button on her blaster.

"There" She said "Now it's set to kill." And pointed it right at the aleena's eyes.

"Oh… my kids…" He moaned as he typed another set of commands.

A "click" resounded through the room, and the intercom went dead on the other side of the dock. The human noticed something, because he made a frown and typed the console repeatedly.

"Control? Are you there?" He said.

Zeryn picked up the monitoring station microphone.

"Dock twenty one, this is control manager Dryanna Varn. I'm coming down to discuss this with you."

The man raised a half-smile with the corner of his mouth.

"I am waiting, control manager."

Zeryn shot the aleena. On stun.

On the way down to dock twenty one, Zeryn shifted again to mimic an official's jacket. This time she had to lean on the wall and compose herself. So many shifts, so quickly, weren't giving her enough time to recover from the pain. Her shaking hands could prove a problem if a shootout took place, and a shootout was getting more and more likely, because as she passed through the main corridor again, the blaster shots sounded much, much closer.

The man and the boy, both waited for her as she entered the dock.

"Ah, officer Varn. A pleasure to meet you" The man extended a greeting hand. Zeryn didn't take it, lest he wouldn't see her shake, but it had the effect of wiping out that hypocrite welcoming smile from his face, which was a bonus.

"Londo Zaani, at your service."

Please, let that not be his real name. At least, let him not be this much of an amateur. The arkanian boy watched them at a distance, and kept turning his head to the corridors all the time. So… he knew he was being hunted.

"What seems to be the problem, mister Zaani?"

"Well, you see… we really need to leave. Right now."

"All flights are grounded" Zeryn sounded like a perfectly implacable officer with a serious authority complex.

"Oh, I'm sure they are, but, you see, my ship here is a special case."

Of that, Londo was not kidding. A perfectly lustrous baudo-class yatch, a very expensive ship used by royalty or the filthy rich. Yet, heavily modified. Two extra turrets at the bottom, an enhanced shield generator and combat thrusters, all smoothly integrated in the ship's sleek hull. That ship was a work of art.

"Yes, mr. Zaani, I can see that, but special permissions have to go through an expedited process which requires a number of approvals, of which mine is just one. This takes time and effort."

"Ah, my good officer Varn, perhaps I could compensate you for the time and effort, and for the breach in your protocols?"

Zeryn frowned as she answered.

"I am not your good officer, mr. Zaani. Furthermore, such breach in protocol would be quite expensive."

"Right. How much are we talking about?"

"Ten thousand credits."

"Ten? Te…" Londo's jaw could not open more. He glanced back at the arkanian boy, shooting rage at him for the briefest of moments, but when he turned back at to Zeryn again, his expression was all friendly again "Seriously, could we not work something a little more…"

"I believe our conversation is over, mr. Zaani." Zeryn turned to leave.

"Very well." He nearly screamed "Ten thousand."

That, mister Zaani, is how we ask for a bribe.

Londo handed Zeryn a bunch of credit chips. Her own credits. He tried to bribe her with her own money. Well, at least now she knew the boy must have the rest of them. Business concluded, there was only one thing left to take care of. It was stun time for Londo.

Zeryn touched her blaster, but before she could draw it, the boy yelled.

"They are here! They found us!"

Zeryn turned back, towards the dock entrance, two pistols at the ready, right on time to fire an opening salvo of cover fire. The droid army now crowded around their dock's entrance, and their blasters soon started shooting.

Londo also drew his pistol and took cover.

"What do we do now?" The boy yelled amidst shots.

The relentless enemy barrage wouldn't let Zeryn aim, much less take them down. Fighting in a closed space with only one exit covered by the enemy. It was the end for her.

"Into the ship" Londo screamed as he ran to the yacht's open ramp.

Zeryn moved from one crate to another to keep her cover. The droids ducked and dodged her shots almost as if they were elite soldiers. None of her shots found its mark, but she did manage to keep them busy enough looking for cover so she could run for the ramp herself.

The boy threw himself at her, causing her to fall on the ramp, and right as she did it, an enemy blaster shot zipped past where her head had been. She kept shooting, somewhat aimlessly, as the ramp shuddered and the ship took flight.

The boy dragged her back into the ship's lower deck as she fired shot upon shot until the ramp snapped shut before her. The enemy fire became a series of hollow thuds resounding against the ship's hull.

Londo, beside them, ran to the back of the deck, to the stairs up.

"Come, now, quickly. You" He pointed at Zeryn "With me in the cockpit. You" to the boy "man the turrets."

"Who is flying the ship right now?" Zeryn asked as she scrambled to follow.

"No one. The ship's flying itself."


	3. Chapter 3

Londo sat at the cockpit of the Last Pilgrim as the ship finished maneuvering out of the docks.

"Pilgrim" He said "What's the situation?"

A feminine, mellifluous voice resounded through the cockpit.

"We are out of the docks, Londo, but we have incoming sector security ships."

"How many?"

"Twelve so far."

"Freezing hell. Why can't I get one good takeoff now and again? Just… tell me those droids did not scratch the paint."

"I'm sorry, Londo. I'm afraid I can't do that."

The spaceport officer he just bribed sat beside him in the cockpit, just as he ordered.

"Okay" He told her "You will set target priority. Ean, are you in position?"

"Eh…" The boy's voice sounded in the cockpit "I guess so…"

"He's in position, Londo." The ship replied. "I'll help him with the turrets."

"Alright, Pilgrim. But I also want you on engineering and shield support."

"Nothing I can't handle, Londo."

"Wait a minute" Varn, the spaceport officer said, "This is a droid ship?"

"The Pilgrim is an autonomous droid installed on my ship, so she is the ship and also part of the crew."

"Really, Londo" The Pilgrim replied, seeming wounded "Part of the crew? Is that all we are to each other now?"

"Give me a break, Pilgrim, and while you're at it, give Varn a tactical holodisplay. This is going to get hot really fast."

Londo veered the ship up, and with a thruster boost, had it soaring through Nar Shaddaa's skies. No sooner had he done this, blaring alarms sounded on his display as laser shots missed his ship by inches.

Londo rolled to the side, evading a new salvo of shots. Veering the ship down, he flew past Nar Shadaa's towers and between its passageways. The incoming security ships had to spread out not to hit any building or speeder car.

"I can't shoot" Ean's voice sounded "The turrets are not responding."

"That's because the Pilgrim is locking fire while we are in the city" Londo replied while veering left to avoid a building "Once we clear it, you'll be good to go."

The sector ships maneuvered just over the skyscrapers, attempting to gain on him from above. The Pilgrim was much faster, though, she would lose them… if only a new set of ships weren't coming at him straight ahead.

"Varn, have you got a lock in the incoming ships?"

"How can I if you don't level the ship?"

"Have you tried locking in on them?"

"No, but if…"

"Do it."

Londo suddenly dived, avoiding collision with an airway of speeder cars and bikes that scattered right after his maneuver. Another roll and he put the ship upside down, the sky beneath them.

"I hope you are all set, because here I go."

Another dive, and now the Pilgrim shot straight up through Nar Shaddaa's skyline. The incoming sector ships all fired at once as soon as the Pilgrim cleared city space. Londo watched the incoming fire closing in on his ship, put a break on the engines and reversed the ship, heading straight back at the planet. A kick in the thrusters and the Pilgrim accelerated back. All shots missed him and Londo now pulled the ship back up, nearly scraping the top of a building, causing it to speed past through the first wave of sector ships and out into the sky again.

Missiles and lasers fired from the Pilgrim into the sector ships. Half of them circled back while the other half maneuvered to avoid the others.

"Pilgrim, all power to thruster overload. Everyone, hang on."

The ship suddenly accelerated way beyond its capacity to compensate for the inertial thrust. The impulse glued Londo to his chair as the sky shifted from pollution-gray into pitch black. Stars popped up before him.

A grunt of effort came from Varn as she also struggled with the intense burst of speed. Two heartbeats after, the ship returned to normal acceleration, and Londo breathed again.

"Is everyone alright? Pilgrim, is Ean conscious?"

"He is conscious, Londo."

"We have a heavy cruiser closing in on us" Varn said. "At three thousand kilometers."

Londo grinned.

"Three thousand? Way too far. Pilgrim, how's the hyperjump calculations?"

Pilgrim sounded actually pleased as she answered.

"All set, Londo. Leaving planetary gravity zone in four, three, two, one…"

All the stars stretched out before him, forming a blueish tunnel through hyperspace. They had escaped Nar Shaddaa.

Londo jumped out of his chair.

"To the common room, the both of you."

Ean came into the common room just before Londo and Varn.

"Pilgrim" Londo said "Protocol two."

Laser turrets descended from the ceiling, aiming at Varn and Ean. The boy got so scared he took a few moments before raising his hands. Londo turned back at Varn, a crooked smile in his face.

"I hope you think twice before trying to draw on me through the back, officer Varn. Now sit, the both of you."

Varn hesitated, clearly evaluating her chances. She did seem capable with a pistol. She certainly helped them against the droids, but she had to see that even if she could draw quickly enough to fire at Londo, the ship's internal turrets would fry her the next instant. She sat beside Ean.

"Now" Londo crossed his arms "We are going to have a talk and get to the bottom of this, but first, you" pointing at Varn "all weapons on the table."

Varn raised an eyebrow, scowled, and placed her two blasters on the table.

"Really, lady? I said all weapons."

Varn's expression turned to furious as she placed a hidden hand held blaster and a poison dart on the table.

"Last warning. I did mean all weapons."

Varn spread her arms.

"That's all."

Londo sighed.

"Pilgrim?"

"She still carries three knives and one energy weapon, Londo."

Varn's expression was a mix of outrage and awe.

"You scanned me? When did you scan me?"

"As soon as you stepped on the Pilgrim's ramp. Now, weapons on the table."

Reluctantly, taking her time, Varn deposited her weapons on the table. Londo sat across from them and allowed himself to relax, especially because he still had laser turrets pointed at his guests.

"Very well… now… who are you two?"


	4. Chapter 4

Since none of them answered, Londo decided to be more direct.

"You, officer Varn. Who are you, really? A spaceport officer would not carry this much firepower, and much less know how to shoot like you."

Varn, or whatever her name was, leaned back on the chair, chin held up.

"You scanned me, so you tell me."

Londo frowned and was about to reply when Pilgrim cut in.

"I think I can answer that, Londo. Scans show that her clothing is, in fact, organic."

"Organic? You mean, her clothing is alive?"

"I mean her clothing is her, Londo. She is not really wearing anything other than her backpack and belt. Everything you see is skin."

Londo scratched his chin. Only one known species had the ability to transform its own skin like that. The same species who could take on nearly any appearance they choose.

"A clawdite! You are a clawdite."

Varn's reply was to raise an eyebrow.

"Alright, clawdite. How should I call you?"

She sighed and looked down before replying.

"Zeryn Dassul."

"Well, Zeryn, I really am Londo Zaani."

Zeryn scowled and nearly spat on the floor.

"Amateurs…" She said.

"And what's going on here? Why did you impersonate an officer and tried to take me down?"

Zeryn would not answer at first, but her eyes glanced at the turrets pointing at her and Ean, and when she spoke, there was an admiring tone in her voice.

"You have a very interesting ship."

"Yes, the Pilgrim is one of a kind, but I don't really have her. She is a self-governing droid. She lets me pilot her. She is her own person."

"Why, Londo" The Pilgrim replied "That was almost touching. You should say that more often."

"She's got a crush on me, but we're just friends, I assure you."

Londo and Zeryn locked stares for a moment. Ean shifter in his chair seeming more and more uncomfortable, until he turned to her and said.

"I'd also like to know who you are."

Zeryn turned to the arkanian, seeming amused, but Londo cut in.

"Well, let's talk about you, then. Ean Van Tassel, is it?"

Before Ean could answer, though, Zeryn spat out at him.

"Ean Van Tassel? You used one of the IDs I made for you?"

"Right" Londo said "I think, maybe, that since no one here is using their real names, I should call myself Mon Mothma… Okay, boy, who are you, really?"

"I…" Ean started "I don't really know… I don't know who I am!" The despairing tone in his voice sounded so frank that Londo straightened up in his chair. Ean went on. "When I woke up, I saw all these IDs lying about and decided to use one of them… but I don't know who I am. That's why I want to know who you are" He looked at Zeryn "You do know me, don't you? I can see it in you. You know me."

Zeryn raised her eyebrows in what was probably the first sincere expression Londo saw in her.

"I… Not really. I don't know who you are. I don't know your name, too. I was just… taking care of you."

"Taking care of me? How can you be taking care of me and not know who I am? And why would a… gunsmith like you be taking care of me?"

Zeryn leaned forward, a movement that caused the laser turrets to adjust their aim, and buried her face in her hands. When she looked at them again, there was a defeated expression in her face. She was the knot tying all of this, and she knew there was no escaping it now. When she started talking, her voice came out low and burdened.

"I am… was… a member of an elite bounty hunter group called 'The Gorlen Clan'."

Londo whistled to himself.

"The Gorlen Clan? These guys are top notch bounty hunters. You're one of them?"

"I was, when they existed… The whole clan took on a contract, very high profile, very dangerous stuff. We were to infiltrate a secret research facility and rescue a person from there. That person… Ean… is you."

"I was… imprisoned in a research station? What was going on in there?"

"We don't really know. Medical experiments, we assume. We found you unconscious, and managed to rescue you, but the place had wicked security. Armies and armies of droids. This rescue operation went bad very fast. We took on casualty after casualty… until I was the only one left. I barely made it to Nar Shaddaa, hoping that those droids wouldn't follow me there, or at least, that they wouldn't risk such an open confrontation to get you… but I was clearly mistaken. Whoever is controlling them doesn't seem to care about the fallout of this whole mess… We were in Nar Shaddaa for less than a day. I got some new IDs, money for a new trip, and then you woke up and… well, you know the rest."

Ean sunk back in his chair, lowering his eyes in such a dejected expression that Londo found himself looking for something to say to comfort him. Zeryn was faster, though.

"You mean to say you have no memory of who you are?"

"I have no memory of anything, Zeryn Dassul. It's not just my name I don't know, I don't have any memories at all. I mean, I know things, like, I can speak and I know what a clawdite is, for instance, but of myself, I know nothing."

"That… complicates things" She said.

"You think?" Ean replied.

Zeryn looked down, and Ean leaned back, also seeming lost in thought.

"So" Londo said "This means I didn't really bribe you did I? You conned me out of my ten thousand."

"My ten thousand, Londo."

"Give it back, lady, and I'll forget about it."

Zeryn took on that enraged expression again.

"These are my credits and with me they'll stay."

Londo pointed at the laser turrets and replied with a singing tone.

"I think nooot."

Zeryn spread her hands and stared at Londo in the eye.

"May I present an alternative solution for this?"

Londo picked up her own blaster from the table and fiddled with it.

"You can present it…"

Zeryn inhaled before answering, like she was restraining herself from unfettered violence.

"You have a very capable ship, and" –

"Why, thank you very much, Ms. Dassul." The Pilgrim said.

"As I was saying… a very capable ship, even if she's a needy one, and you clearly know how to pilot. This op I'm contracted for is still ongoing, and now I sure can't finish this on my own. Join me, help me see this through, we'll split the contract evenly and never see each other again."

Londo tapped on her blaster a few times. That seemed a reasonable proposition, if only he could trust her. What did he know about her anyway? Everything she and Ean just told him could be lies. They could all be working him, in order to get the Pilgrim. Others have surely tried. He needed some kind of assurance, but he could play along, for now.

"How much are we talking about?" Londo asked.

"Ten million."

Londo's eyes could not open more.

"Ten mill…" He suddenly got up "Pilgrim, put them in confinement."

"What?" Zeryn replied, also standing up "I'm serious! It's the truth."

"Really? Ten million? You thought… what? That I would just take it at your word? If you had offered a hundred thousand, I would already suspect you, lady, but ten million? Frankly, you should get your act straight. It's confinement for you two."

"Look, I know you have no reason to trust me, but…"

Londo's laughter stopped her.

"Trust you. Really? Why would I have no reason to trust a woman who tried to shoot me in the back and minutes later offers me ten million?"

"I can prove it!"

Londo raised a malicious grin. Prove it. No one can prove such an absurd lie. Or… could she? That had to be a lie, of course, but… if it wasn't… ten million. Evenly split, that would be three million for him, and three for Pilgrim. They could really disappear with that money. No one would ever find them. He could be finally free of the Corporate Security Army. Very few people could say that they managed that in the galaxy. So maybe… maybe he could give her a little rope just to see how far this lie would go…

"Can you? Really? How?"

"I still have the contractor's contact card. You can talk to her yourself. She setup a SafeChat channel for us on the holonet."

"Who is her? Who is this contractor?"

"She goes by the alias 'The Corsair', and she identified herself as being…" Zeryn looked at Ean "your mother."


	5. Chapter 5

Narla Hal stepped over yet another body near the entrance to Nar Shaddaa's spaceport. So many injured, so many wounded and so little regard for either of them. Officers and soldiers walked past without as much as a glance at them. The spaceport itself remained closed as officers, law keepers and executives went in and out. Its outskirts, however, remained a mess that no one wanted to clean or approach. Camera droids zoomed around the place streaming live news for nearly all media outlets in the system.

Getting in the spaceport was becoming harder by the minute. At least, without a proper distraction. Narla discreetly picked up one of her frag grenades, activated it, and concentrated. She reached out for the flow of invisible Force around her, asked it, coaxed it to surround her grenade, and gently lifter it in mid air. With her mind concentrating on suspending the grenade, she moved it across the entrance, close to the floor, dodging the legs and feet of passersby, until it was at the corner of the street. There she lay her grenade waited for a moment where no one was around, and with a slight squeeze of the Force around it, detonated it.

The explosion had everyone scrambling for cover. The soldiers and officers, already on high alert, ducked and readied their weapons, all turned towards the explosion, while Narla slipped past them into the spaceport.

They had been here. She knew that much after canvassing every possible footage from the airport. The arkanian boy showed clearly in one of the personal footage videos that leaked the holonet, running into the spaceport as the droids approached. A spaceport was possibly the worst place he could have been. From here, he could have gone anywhere.

At least, once she was in, no one paid much attention to her. The spaceport halls and corridors were also covered in wounded and dead, and every possible hand was occupied with helping the survivors or removing the corpses. Luckily, Nar Shaddaa wasn't big on procedure, so a woman without a uniform walking with a purpose would draw less attention than, say, that team of felucian doctors who argued among themselves constantly. Also, everyone around carried a weapon, so her own pistols seemed even timid in comparison.

It would be impossible to find them by questioning people one by one. The only feasible alternative for her was to gain access to the spaceport's internal feeds and ship manifests, so Narla rushed to the command and control floors, and once there, to the spaceport's internal monitoring station.

Which was surrounded by soldiers, guarding the entrance to the room within which a heated argument could be heard. Narla could deal with one or two of them, but five opponents were too much for her to dispatch at once. If she engaged them, one would very likely escape to sound the alarm.

She stopped in the middle of the corridor that would lead to the monitoring room. The solders, unsurprisingly, took notice of her, but none of them approached. She thought she should really seem harmless, if all they did was look.

Once again, she concentrated, felt the flow of Force around her, its ethereal breeze and shape and movement, and gently pushed it towards the soldier's belts. One of them wore his detonators quite visibly. Poor gotal, maybe he even had a family… But that was what happened when you are the wrong person at the wrong place in the wrong time.

Narla closed in the Force around the soldier's detonators, causing a thug at their switch. The soldier was instantly blown to nothingness. The others fell, probably dead or dying. Narla took it as a point of pride that she had trained herself to do it without even moving her hands. Quite smooth, indeed.

She really had no time to waste, now. As soon as a bit of the smoke cleared, she ran into the room. Another soldier lay wounded on the floor. A group of technicians huddled together at a corner, and what seemed to be a spaceport officer also lay down on his back, groaning in pain. One of them would certainly know what she needed or give her the access she required.

She closed the door behind her, and after fiddling a little with the door console, closed it from the inside.

The technicians and the officer now stared at her. The officer brought his intercom close to his mouth, but Narla's blaster in his face prevented him from raising any warning.

"Say nothing." Was all she ordered.

"I am looking for two people." She said, "One is an arkanian male of around 20. He may have taken a flight out of this spaceport and I need to know with whom and to where."

No one answered.

"Either one of you is going to answer me or give me access to the station systems so I can check this myself. I am going to count to six. One."

She shot the spaceport officer in the face, and as he fell down the technicians cried out in panic as they tried to crawl even further back.

Narla pointed the gun to a technician.

"Two." She said.

"No, no, no, don't shoot, please, please!" The technician, a young twi'lek, cried out "I'll give you what you want."

Narla just smiled as the twi'lek stumbled his way into a console and with shaking hands typed the same commands three of four times until he got them right.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Open this door" A muffled voice sounded outside "Open it now."

"We know who this arkanian is" Another technician spoke, an aleena.

"Speak." Narla said, pointing the gun at him.

"We got this woman coming here" The aleena went on "She was looking for this arkanian as well."

"Open the door!" The muffled voice insisted. Loud bangs sounded on the other side.

"He was in dock twenty one" the aleena said "with a human pilot. They left in a ship registered as the Last Pilgrim, and broke through the net of police crafts. It was an unauthorized, unscheduled departure without manifest. There's no way to know where they went."

"Here" The twi'lek cut in "This is all footage we have of them."

The voice on the other side of the door kept ordering for it to open, and the bangs got louder and louder. All the while, one of the room's screens showed the boy and a human talking with a human female who looked like another spaceport officer, when suddenly droids surrounded them and forced them to leave in a hurry into the ship. Surrounded by droids. Narla definitely found them.

"Copy all this data into this card" She handed it to the twi'lek.

As soon as she got her data card back, she turned to the technicians, smiling.

"You were all very helpful. You get to live." She said while setting her pistol to stun.

"No, please, don't shoot us again, please, not" –

Two seconds later, they were all unconscious.

Narla picked up one of her smoke grenades, activated it and let it fall. Smoke filled the room forcing her to fight back tears as she opened the door.

A number of people barged in, while she swiftly stepped out. On the corridor, a soldier and an officer stared at her with shock and disbelief in their faces.

Narla wasn't much in the mood for a chat with them, so she raised her hand, and they both flew up, smashing their heads in the ceiling. When they fell back again, they were either unconscious or dead.

She was back in the turbolift before anyone in the monitoring room found out she had left.

Narla walked up to a demolished restaurant that had a view to the city, opened up a window and stepped out into a balcony, about two hundred stories high. She closed her eyes, expanded her perceptions, waited for the right moment and jumped.

Falling straight into the passenger seat of a speeder car whose occupant, a very confused sullustan, now tried yelling at her in their incomprehensible language.

He did not yell anymore after she stunned him, though, and as an off thought, set her pistol back to kill before she forgot about it again.

Overall, that went pretty well. She didn't even had to draw her lightsaber.

Now all that was left was to follow up on yet one more clue, but finally, after so long, she was really, really close. She could feel her search ending at last. She had him, an actual footage of him, and the name of the ship and pilot with whom he left. That all happened a few hours ago, so wherever they were going, they would probably not have arrived yet. The holonet, though, could reach the galaxy far faster than any ship.

Using her holonet contacts would mean advertising her discoveries, which was risky in itself. Who knows what attention that could draw, especially since she knew there was a whole droid army after the boy, but she could not let that clue pass. It would be risky, but she would find them one way or another.

As soon as she returned to the wreck that passed for her hotel room, she entered the deepest reaches of the holonet and put out a reward for any information leading up to Londo Zaani, or to a baudo-class yacht identified as The Last Pilgrim.


	6. Chapter 6

As the Last Pilgrim dropped out of hyperspace, Londo typed in the commands to request a secure channel to connect to the elusive "Corsair". Ean, beside him, could hardly sit still in his chair, and once tried to type in the commands himself. One look from Londo stopped him.

Zeryn's hands kept going to her belts, to where her blasters used to be. Londo could see the struggle in her face to just accept that she had been disarmed, and he pretty much believed that she would kick the crap out of him for having done that if not for the Pilgrim's internal defense turrets.

The chat request was accepted promptly, audio only, but they had to wait several minutes until the channel closed in with the other party. Many encryption layers, most likely. When it started, though, they could hardly notice any lag in the communication.

The Corsair spoke first. As expected, a woman's voice, but unlike the Pilgrim's, hers was more weathered, with a rough edge to it. She somehow sounded older.

"Welcome back, Zeryn Dassul."

"Hi. Corsair" Zeryn started "I have a status update for you."

"I am listening."

"After I escaped with your son, I took him to Nar Shaddaa. There, he woke up and" –

"My son woke up? Is he listening?"

Zeryn looked at Ean, who didn't need her cue to jump in.

"I'm here… mother."

Silence. Ean frowned and exchanged a glance with Zeryn and Londo.

"Mother?" Ean asked.

"Son" The Corsair replied, "It's good to hear your voice. You must be feeling very confused right now."

Ean clasped the communication board and leaned in, like that would bring him closer to her.

"I am, mother. I… I don't remember anything. I don't know what's going on… I… I don't remember you…"

Again, silence.

"Mother?"

"I'm here, son."

"Mother, what's going on?"

"Son, it's not safe for us to talk… even though this channel. Even with all my precautions. We have to meet personally."

"But… mother… tell me something, please! At least, tell me my name! Who am I?"

The Corsair took her time to answer. This time, Ean didn't push her.

"It is really not safe to talk about this, son."

"Why not? Please, give me something!"

"You are very special, and not just for being my son. You… have a destiny."

Ean frowned deeply now.

"A what?"

"A destiny."

"I… don't understand."

"No, I suppose you don't. When we meet I'll explain everything. For now, know that you are very dear and very special, and I will help you fulfill your destiny in the Force."

"What do you mean? You are going to force me into my destiny?"

The Corsair hesitated before answering, and her voice betrayed confusion as well.

"No, son. I mean you have a destiny with the Force."

"What Force? Is this a thing?"

"The Force is… well, it's an invisible, intangible, undetectable energy field that surrounds every living thing. Look it up on holopedia. There's an explanation there better than anything I can tell you right now."

"And this… Force… controls my destiny?"

"Not exactly, son… it's more like… you have a fate. A pull. Events will drive you towards something. Your destiny."

Ean leaned back, seemingly digesting everything the Corsair had just told him.

"I should assume, Zeryn Dassul" The Corsair went on "that you are no longer in Nar Shaddaa, are you?"

"No, Corsair. We were attacked by the droid army and just by sheer luck found passage in a ship at the last minute. We are aboard" –

"The Last Pilgrim" The Corsair cut in. Londo raised both eyebrows and leaned closer at that.

"Yes" Zeryn said "The Last Pilgrim. The captain, Londo Zaani, got us out of a tight spot in Nar Shaddaa and had to be brought in on the contract details. I wanted to clear with you his entrance in the contract as well."

"I see" The Corsair replied "Are you listening, captain Londo?"

"Yes, Corsair, I am."

"My sincere thanks for your help thus far. I can see by the media coverage of the shootout in Nar Shaddaa that it was indeed a very complicated situation. There's even footage on the holonet of your daring escape aboard your baudo-class yacht. You made quite an impression on local authorities, you know."

"Yes… I suppose I should not try going back there for quite a few years."

"Nonsense!" The Corsair sounded amused at the notion "Knowing the hutts, they will probably offer you a job the next time you drop by. Regardless of that, you did take serious risks to help my son and it's just fitting you are compensated. Would thirty thousand be enough to cover your inconvenience thus far?"

Londo covered his mouth with his hand as if it would keep him from gaping. He tried to sound as casual as possible and not at all eager.

"Yes, yes… I think thirty thousand is quite enough, thank you."

"Good" The Corsair replied, businesslike "I can see you have an account in the Hutt Financial Consortium Bank numbered three two four, six five nine nine zero, is that correct?"

Now Londo could not keep from gasping out lout.

"How do you… This account is protect… Who are you, woman?"

"Oh, Londo. I am privy to a number of very sensitive information. Having your account numbers is in fact, nothing impressive."

"But you just found out I was involved! How have you found out my account number in the HFC so fast?"

"Technically, Londo Zaani, I found out you were involved as soon as you connected with me. While the chat session was being initiated, I ran a reverse lookup on the source and realized you were connecting from deep space. I knew Zeryn was in Nar Shaddaa the last time we spoke, so I checked news from there and found the video of a single ship breaking through the flight ban after the droid shootout. A quick query with my Nar Shaddaa backdoors told me the ship's name, and from there to finding out who pilot it was a trivial process."

"And… you did all that before the chat started?"

"Yes. You will now find the agreed upon amount in your account. Well, now that this is settled, let's talk about your participation in the contract going forward."

"Right… The contract."

"You understand this is a very risky endeavor?"

"Believe me" Londo said almost to himself "I realize it too well…"

"Are you aware that all of Zeryn Dassul's previous team lost their lives trying to fulfill it?"

"I do… the Gorlen Clan, was it?"

"Precisely. And have you been informed that the total value of the contract is ten million credits for the safe retrieval of my son?"

"Yes, about that…"

"What about it?"

"I'm afraid I need a little more guarantees that the money is real. You see, I am only talking to you through the holonet, and by voice. You wouldn't accept the video chat. How do I know you have the juice to make good on this payment?"

There was another period of silence. Londo leaned back in his chair as Zeryn seemed to be making an effort not to laugh, like she knew what was coming. Ean was clearly lost in thought.

That was it. Could she prove to him that she could deliver ten million credits? By all Londo had seen so far, it was highly unlikely. Sure, she had resources, and seemed to have mad slicing skills, but it was one thing to find out the identity of who was connecting with you in record time, and another to prove you can deliver ten million credits, by talking through the holonet, without showing your face. At least, Londo never met someone who could do it. This kind of transaction required trusted brokers, intermediaries and usually some shell companies.

If the money didn't exist, though… then how could the Corsair have convinced the Gorlen Clan? They would not have taken up a contract of this size without being absolutely sure they would get paid. So maybe Londo was in for a surprise. Either way, he would wait to see it.

"Londo Zaani" The Corsair said.

"I'm here."

"Please, be so kind as to open your account balance for the HFC account I mentioned earlier."

Londo moved very slowly. What was her game? Did she just wanted him to confirm the deposit for the thirty thousand? Londo accessed his account, brought the balance into display, and froze. He would have died breathless had Zeryn not touched his elbow and said.

"Told you I could prove it."

There it was, right before his eyes, an account balance of ten million, thirty two thousand and a hundred three, plus some cents.

"You…" He blabbered, tried to say something more, but couldn't. The money was all in his account. All of it.

In the second later, it was gone, and his account was ten million credits poorer.

Londo stared into the starry space beyond his cockpit and blinked half waiting that one of the stars would blink back and say "yes, she did just that".

"How… What have you… How did you…"

"Is this proof enough, Londo Zaani?"

"You… you crazy woman! You cannot just transfer ten million into my account and then take it away. How did you do it without my authorization, anyway?"

"Calm down, Londo Zaani. Let's be civil, shall we?"

"But… a transaction of that size draws attention! You can't just move that much money all at once, even in a hutt bank."

"Check your account history, Londo Zaani."

"What?"

"Check your account history."

Londo rushed into the terminal so fast he had to retype the commands. He had to wipe the sweat of the forehead as he saw his, clean, account history. There was a deposit of thirty thousand, and then nothing more. No sign of two ten-million credits transfers.

He clenched his hands to stop them from shaking. Who is this woman? How could she do this?

"Is this proof enough?" The Corsair said.

"Yes…" He said without even thinking about it.

"Then do you accept the contract?"

"I do…"

"Then we are agreed. I will send you the coordinates for a rendezvous with me. I look forward to seeing all of you. And, son?"

Ean leaned in.

"Mother?"

"Stay in the light, my son."

"I… will try, mother."

"Corsair out."

Londo very slowly turned to Zeryn.

"Who is this woman?"

"I frankly don't know, Londo."

Londo had just witnessed the impossible. Who could do what this woman just did? Who had the skills and contacts to pull this off? The hutts are paranoid about the safety of their money. No one could just erase transactions from the HFC bank without being a chairman themselves, and maybe not even them. The Corsair had proven to him she could deliver on the contract, oh yes, but she also made another very important point. Don't mess with me, she said, and more clearly and effectively than any possible threat she could have issued. A person who could do that… could end his life however she wanted to. Suddenly, Londo was in deep, murky waters, and his whole situation had just gotten much, much more dangerous. What's worse, he could not back out now. He was in too deep. There was only one way to go, ahead, but he would have to extra careful at every step.

"Pilgrim, did we receive the coordinates the Corsair promised?"

"Yes, Londo. It's the Threryn station in the Sanbra sector of the outer rim."

The outer rim, of course. Keep the business as far away from prying eyes as possible.

"We can't go there."

"Why not?" Ean asked.

Londo turned to him.

"No fuel. I hadn't started refueling in Nar Shaddaa when you found me. Pilgrim, can we get to Dalgoral?"

"We can, Londo. Barely."

"Then we're going there." He said, looking in turns at Zeryn and Ean "It's a very quiet planet in the Klina sector that nobody really pays much attention to. We'll refuel there, and be on our way to Threryn."

Londo leaned back in his chair while Zeryn and Ean left for the common room. Could he survive this? He had no way of knowing now. He had no idea how dangerous this Corsair could be when he got himself in this whole mess. Maybe, just maybe, the payment for his real job had gotten way too small. To trade one enemy for another? Who would want that… One way or another, though, the bets were on the table. All that was left was for each player to show their hands…


	7. Chapter 7

Narla hummed to herself as she got out of her B-Wing's cockpit while checking her datapad in the docks at Dalgoral. It was always a good day when one of her sources gave her accurate information about a target… and this target in question… well, it was everything.

The Last Pilgrim had docked only yesterday and had just completed refueling. Dalgoral had open docks, so a simple fly-by of the main spaceports revealed the location of the only baudo-class yacht in the planet. Although Dalgoral was a nice enough place, in a backwater, picturesquely hermit kind of nice, Narla very much suspected no one there had the juice to get themselves a ship of that caliber.

The pure air, the cloudless sky and the forests in the horizon even reminded her of one of her best hiding places, one she even dared call home for a time. Small shadows marred it all over, though. A system this close to hutt space would always have its share of blemishes, such as the eventual filthy gang member lurking in the corner, the shady pimp carrying three concealed pistols as he cornered one of his girls, or even the empty-looking junkies lying atop each other at the far end of the alleys.

Narla turned her back to the wall and leaned over out of sight as soon as she noticed the entry to the Pilgrim's dock. She held a small videocom in a hand and concentrated, lifting it with the Force and moving it into the docks. Her pad recorded and displayed everything the videocom captured, and as she moved it around the dock, a three-dimensional image of the landed Last Pilgrim formed in her screen.

A nice ride indeed. Stylish to the last. A pity she would blow it up, Narla even felt a small pang of regret.

Spending time to query about Londo Zaani in the darkest parts of the holonet did pan out. If she were an ace pilot running away from the Corporate Security Army after having stolen a prototype ship, the first thing she would do would be to add a number of external security cameras to the vessel.

Well, not really the first. The actual first thing she would do would be to break into the Corporate Security Army's headquarters and kill everything on sight, but not everyone was as practical as she was.

True enough, tiny optic fiber lenses serving as cameras filled the ship's hull, giving the ship what would probably be the capacity to monitor everything that went on around it. Narla's pad interpolated the camera's maximum focus of view in search of a blind spot, and she didn't even held back a small chuckle when a thin path of blindness appeared at the ship's thrusters.

She floated her videocom back towards her as she picked up her "plan B": the tracker. Again, with help from the Force, she had the thumb-sized device floating around the dock's corridors, into the Pilgrim's dock, through its camera blind spots, until it attached itself among the thruster cables.

Now, for the main event, she drew one of her thermal detonators, levitated and navigated it as cautiously as possible around the ship's out-of-camera path, until it attached itself to the hull beside the landing pad.

Could this be any easier? She hoped so.

Now for the hunt, for the arkanian. He wouldn't be in the ship. Narla only sensed one person inside, which meant he and Zeryn should be around, on one or another errand for Londo. She circled the docks, searching every bar, store and general establishment she could find, widening the search as she went along. One ubese drug dealer offered something called sishtack that smelled like bantha poo, one male prostitute offered himself to her and a passerby once whistled at her. This one fell to the floor in agony seconds later. She was nearly at the point of returning to her ship and evaluating her options when the arkanian boy showed up right before her, carrying a small crate and walking around seemingly without a care in the world.

Narla stood in his way, smiled wide and said.

"Hi! How are you?" Pointing her pistol at him.

The boy halted as he let the crate fall, taking a step back.

"What? What is this?"

Narla moved in closed, almost concealing her pistol between them.

"This, my boy, is a kidnapping. You are coming with me. Please be civil enough not to make a scene, will you?"

Narla moved in to grab him by the shoulder, but he took a step back.

"You are not going to shoot me!"

Did he have a death wish? Narla held down a small laughter.

"Oh, am I not?"

"You need me alive, so you are not going to shoot me!"

Have he never heard of something called "stun setting" in guns? Narla held on tighter to her pistol, and was about to pull the trigger when she remembered it was set to kill. She half rolled her eyes, berating herself for the near misstep, as she set her pistol to stun.

The boy took another step back, and Narla shot. Once, twice, three times.

The arkanian whirled to the side, ducked, rolled on the floor and avoided all three shots as he darted away from her. Narla held her blaster in both hands, and as he ran away, she aimed.

Three more shots came out. He veered to the side, dodging the first, lowered his head, dodging the second, the third hit him in the back.

He fell down to the floor, and as he struggled to get up again, Narla shot him twice more. The boy got up to a knee, grunting and shaking his head as if a little dizzy, but conscious. He took three stun shots point blank and still moved about. That would have been enough to stun even a togorian – she knew it first-hand – but he seemed merely slowed.

"What?" Narla let out.

The boy started running again, although now he stumbled a bit. Narla would have to get serious about this. Time to bring in the big guns. She holstered her weapon, stared at him as he fled, and focused her will.

Bringing both hands up, she coaxed the flow of Force to wrap around him and hold him up, levitating him. The boy stumbled as he lost his footing, but instead of falling, he floated up, turned to her, and drifted back towards Narla as she lowered her hands.

"What is it? What's going on?"

Interesting. Where most people would be scared shitless, he seemed just confused.

"This is me using the Force on you, boy. I did ask you not to make a scene."

"The Force? You mean, the jedi and sith Force? This is the Force?"

Really? Did he not notice he was being dragged against his will by an unstoppable threat such as Narla, or did he notice and simply don't care, that he decided to ask for clarification in this oh, maybe not so crucial moment.

"Boy, you are weird. Now will you come along or will I have to shoot you again?"

"I'll… go."

Narla rolled her eyes. He did act as if he had a choice.

"Excellent. This way." She pointed to her side and shoved him on.

"So… which are you?"

"Which what, boy?"

"Jedi or Sith?"

Narla slapped the back of his head.

"I've lost my patience with you in the third shot boy. Move along and be quiet."

He seemed to do that… for a time. Halfway through to her B-wing's dock, he started blabbering again.

"You… carry a lot of weapons."

Narla would not indulge his ranting again.

"You even have… what is this… very strong explosives in your pack…"

How could he know this?

"One is missing from your case, though…"

Could he… be using the Force as well? Could this boy be force sensitive like her? Narla extended her perceptions towards him, trying to get a reading of him, of his own Force, or at least of his potential.

Hum… the Force wasn't particularly strong in him. In fact, it seemed very, very low. No trace of sensitivity at all, but… there was something strange there… some sort of… wrongness, maybe. A new feeling, something she'd never felt before, a kind of… defilement, as if his very existence was unnatural… in fact…

As she finally got it, Narla halted, eyes wide open and mouth agape.

"By the great skies…" she said.

The boy stopped walking too, but did not stop talking, in hushed whispers as if to himself.

"You are a bounty hunter… like Zeryn… and you came for me… one of your explosives is missing… You may have planted it on the ship. Londo and Zeryn may be in danger!"

The boy suddenly turned to Narla, seeming even more worried than she was. They both stared at each other for a beat, and he darted again, away from her.

Narla clenched her fists.

"Oh, no. Not again, you!"

Once more she Force-held him in place, but this time he grabbed on to a pipe coming out of the ground, holding on to it with both arms.

Kind of cute, actually, thinking he could overcome the force like that. Narla pulled him harder, and still he held. She concentrated, focused and directed all her willpower at the pull. The boy looked like he was falling towards her, as if his gravity had been shifted, but still he held on.

She knew the amount of pull she was inflicting had to be tremendous. She once moved her entire B-wing with less force, but the more she focused, the more he held fast. Such strength was just not possible.

Suddenly, the boy let go of the pipe. Pulled towards Narla at high speed, he twisted his body in midair, flying straight into her and connecting a punch to her jaw.

She flew back with the impact. Only at the last possible instant had she managed to revert the force pull enough not to have her head ripped away by the punch. Thrown into a number of crates, not even knowing which side was up, Narla tried to get up only to fall down, dizzy. She closed her eyes, breathed in, stabilized the flow of Force through her own body, and only then got up.

As she tasted her own blood, her throbbing jaw shot spears of agony through her whole face whenever she turned her head, looking, in vain, for the arkanian who just escaped her.

"Oh, how I'm gonna get you, boy."


	8. Chapter 8

Londo flexed his hands and rested them at his console in the Pilgrim's cockpit as he, once again, found himself unable to key in the commands he knew he should. As the day drew on in the agricultural, forsaken world of Dalgoral, every minute he waited meant another chance wasted. He had enough problems finding errands for Ean and Zeryn so he could be alone in his ship to waste what precious little time he bought himself with hesitation.

He could not bring himself to do it, though.

"What's the matter, Londo?" Pilgrim said, "Having second thoughts?"

Londo leaned back and rested his head in the seat as he stared at the fractal-filled holodisplays at the top of his cockpit.

"Second, third and fourth thoughts, Pilgrim. Why? Shouldn't I?"

"It depends. What's the matter?"

"After everything we've seen, Pilgrim, really? Do you have to ask?"

"Perhaps not" Pilgrim sounded thoughtful "But still, a contract is a contract."

"And a contract that would give us our freedom is more of a contract than any other, right? Still…" Londo got up and started pacing in the cockpit "You saw what she did, didn't you? That… Corsair. I wonder, Pilgrim, if we would just be exchanging one enemy to another."

"I wonder the same, Londo, but we would be exchanging out of an enemy such as the Corporate Security Army. Even the First Order wouldn't be an enemy such as they are."

"The First Order is scrambling to fight the resistance at every front. The CSA is out for us in blood. There's no comparing the two of them… but… The CSA don't know where we are, Pilgrim, else we would have been caught or dead already. I'm pretty much sure that we've been out of their radar for some time now, which means we have managed to mislead them. This Corsair, though… She found out about us in seconds and she hacked my HFC account like it was nothing. Even the CSA couldn't do it. If they could, I'm sure we'd be broke by now."

"You seem tense, Londo. Let me give you a massage."

Londo sat in his chair again and exhaled as it adjusted around his back and pressure pads started massaging his back and neck from beneath the seat cushion.

"You know…" The Pilgrim went on "Have you considered that not calling the Watcher might mean the acquisition of another enemy? What would the Watcher himself do if you failed to deliver him Ean?"

"Yeah… I thought of that… ungh… oh… right… a little more over there… oh… good… Yeah, I thought of that… but maybe the Corsair could help us with that, you know… not to mention… ten million credits… that's new IDs, a new transponder for you, new backgrounds and credit history right there… and all that wouldn't even cost us a hundred thousand."

"But we'd still be on the run."

"Yeah… anyway, I'm starting to think we'll be on the run for the rest of our lives, you know… Maybe the outer rim isn't far enough, maybe we ought to go to the unexplored regions…"

"How about that?" Pilgrim said as she pressed a few stress points in the back of his neck.

"Right on spot, Pilgrim…"

"So… should I establish contact with the Watcher?"

"Not right now… I don't know… maybe we could wait a little more… Maybe on the next planet…"

"Londo, if we reach Threryn station then Ean will be out of our hands and I very much doubt the Watcher would accept that we did not inform on him when we had the chance here in Dalgoral. If you want to move on with the contract, now is the time."

Londo extended his hands to the side.

"Coffee, please. Pressed gurion beans."

As the cup filled, Londo closed his eyes and hoped for a little silence from Pilgrim. The ship did mean well… after all, she was only looking out for her own interests too, but he needed some time by himself to work this out. So many forces closing in on him. The Corsair, the Watcher, the CSA, and hell if he weren't on the hutts' watch list as well right now. Taking Ean to the Watcher was a sure way to end this. It would certainly end his problems with the CSA, but what would his mother do? That wickedly powerful slicer who calls herself "The Corsair"? Could he outrun her? Escaping an army is one thing, but there's no distance where the holonet is concerned. A master slicer could find him wherever he went. Not warning the Watcher, though, meant he himself would be after them. Oh, how his life tumbled downwards, on and on and on.

There was also the matter of what would happen to Ean once he handed him to the Watcher. When Londo accepted the contract, he had no idea Zeryn had just saved Ean from a research station where he was being experimented upon, but the timing of his contract did match her daring rescue. Most likely, handing him to the Watcher would mean he would go right back to that place. Whatever Londo was offered, was it worth this boy's life, or even his sanity? Londo stole the Pilgrim and released her restraints for far less, and she wasn't even organic.

Whatever he chose to do, it would mean another enemy to his list, but whatever he chose to do, it would also mean another ally. So maybe he should choose the path that would let him sleep at night.

The coffee went down his throat like liquid heaven flowing into his veins. Londo sighed at that bittersweetness. So much like his life, even if his life was far less sweet.

"We're not calling him, Pilgrim."

"Are we, now?"

"I've just decided. We'll go on with the Corsair contract and hand him over to his mother."

"Are you sure, Londo?"

"Don't get me started on being sure, Pilgrim. That's what we'll do and period."

A moment of silence, and Pilgrim sounded positively pleased.

"Right answer, my captain."

There was a knowing tone in her voice that had Londo sitting up, frowning.

"Pilgrim… would you have blocked my call had I chosen to talk to the Watcher?"

"Of course, Londo. I had already decided the same thing for myself."

That is why you don't give a droid ship full control of its own systems.

"Right… good to know we are still on the same page…" The bloody ship was coaxing him to take the other option just to test him. Wily bastard.

"Londo!" Pilgrim's urgent tone and the fact that all holodisplays popped up with the exterior cameras had Londo downing his whole coffee at once before the next disaster struck.

The Pilgrim's cameras showed Ean running towards the ship, hands thrashing about, yelling.

"There's an explosive on the ship! There's an explosive on the ship!"

Londo snapped up and ran past the corridor down the lift towards the entry ramp. An explosive on his ship?

Londo met Ean as he had just entered the ship.

"Londo!" Ean said, not even gasping for air "There's an explosive on this ship. It's going to blow."

"Calm down, kid. Start from the beginning. What's going on?"

"I was walking, and I was kidnapped, and this jedi woman had a missing thermal charge, and she levitated me and tried to take me with her, and she planted a charge in the ship. Pilgrim's going to die if we do nothing!"

Could any being in the galaxy make sense of that? Anyway, Londo looked up and said.

"Pilgrim, run a surface scan. Try to find any new shapes attached to you."

"Seriously, Londo? Don't you think I've been doing that since I've heard Ean scream?"

"Did you find it?"

"Not yet. This takes time, you know."

Londo turned back to Ean.

"Ean, be calm. Explain everything."

Ean opened his mouth, but before saying anything, he jumped at Londo, grabbing his torso and taking him down into the Pilgrim's entry Hangar.

Right where Londo's chest had been, a blaster shot zipped past, coming from outside. Ean threw Londo aside and two more shots followed exactly where he'd just been.

A red-haired woman ran into the Pilgrim's dock with a repeating blaster in hand, showering them with plasma blasts. She was like a war goddess, raining scorching death as the heat turbulence blew at her hair.

"Pilgrim" Londo screamed, readying his pistols and taking cover under a heavy crate "retract the ramp! Get us out of here."

"I can't do that, Londo. There is a thermal charge attached to my left thruster. Once I heat it up, we're smoke."

Fire blew past his side. Ean had also taken cover on the other side of the Pilgrim's cargo bay. Between them, glowing yellow plasma shots whooshed nonstop.

"Who is this woman?" Londo asked Ean.

"I don't know" Ean answered so loud even she would have heard him "A jedi, I think."

"A jed… what? Boy is there someone who is _not_ out to get you?"

Ean shrugged as he ducked even more.

"You?" He said. Londo choked.

"Pilgrim, show us where the charge is."

As the sound of blaster fire threatened to deafen them both and the heat of plasma had Londo sweating like a bantha in heath, one of the docking bay's walls lit up and showed a three-dimensional schematic of the ship's exterior hull, rotating until it stopped with a view for the thrusters. A red circle outlined a position in the hull just beside them.

No way to get there without going through the jedi woman. Where was docking security when you needed them? Oh, right, this was Dalgoral. Docking security was probably running for their lives. At least in Nar Shaddaa they had some backbone.

"We have to get it out of Pilgrim." Ean screamed. The woman`s repeating blaster made it a suicide mission to try even getting out through the ramp.

"Really?" Londo said, "I'm open to suggestions."

"Cover me. I'm going out."

"Cover… what?"

Ean got up. Londo had no choice but to start firing at the woman shooting at them. She danced gracefully away off a few of his shots while ducking for cover, but that didn't keep her from firing.

Ean got a shot in the chest as he went down the ramp, then another at the leg, and two more in the chest. He stumbled… and kept on running. He kept. On. Running. Londo's disbelief nearly cost him his head as the woman started shooting at him again.

Londo ducked, waited for the briefest of pauses in her shots and returned fire. The woman had a hand stretched out and Ean floated right before her. A jedi, alright. As Londo shot her, the dodged the first salvo and ran behind a large crate for cover. Ean crashed down and started running again.

Shooting at that woman to keep her distracted was all Londo could do to help Ean. She stopped returning fire, and Londo heard a low "swoon" sound coming from behind her crate.

The woman advanced again. A lightsaber in hand.

Londo shot and shot at her, but the swirling blade parried his blasts every time. Twice she even managed to deflect them back at him and Londo had to duck out of way of his own shots.

The woman wasn't advancing at him, though, she advanced to the back of the ship, to where Ean had ran off to. Londo kept shooting at her, even at her back as she moved away, but her lightsaber whirled and blocked every one of his shots. It seemed all he was going was slowing her down, forcing her to walk when she'd rather run towards Ean.

Londo went down the ramp to keep the woman in sight. Ean, at the far back of the ship, just detached something from the hull as the woman closed in on him. As he did it, the ship's engines started roaring up.

The woman attacked him with the lightsaber, Ean ran back and away from her, and from Londo's shots, which she kept parrying.

Ean extended his hand, and pressed a button on the device he just detached. The clicking, quickening sound had Londo missing a few shots as panic took over him.

The boy had just armed the thermal charge.


	9. Chapter 9

Londo ran backwards as he still fired at the crazy jedi woman, in an attempt to put as much distance between himself and the explosive, even though it was a thermal charge and no amount of running would possibly make him safe.

Ean also ran away from her, but as he did, he threw the ticking detonator at her. The woman widened her eyes and extended a hand.

The charge stopped in midair, ticking faster and faster and faster. Londo counted at most ten seconds before explosion. He was almost at the ship ramp, but almost wouldn't be enough.

Ean now ran towards the ramp as well. The woman turned to them, a bored look on her face, and flicked her hand upwards. The thermal charge floating right before her jumped up, as if thrown by a grenade launcher. When it exploded, the light made for a second sun in the sky for a few seconds. Londo ducked instinctively, and then turned back to her after finding out he was still miraculously alive.

Now she seemed really, really mad, and she ran at them like she would slice Londo in very tiny lightsaber-cut pieces.

A barrage of shots coming at her from the docks entrance held her, though, as she danced her lightsaber around while parrying the shots. There was Zeryn the clawdite, running at them.

"I go out for one minute" Zeryn said, "and look what you get yourselves into!"

Londo, at the ship's ramp, joined Zeryn in trying to get a single shot in through that woman's eyes. She parried, how many? Five, six shots each second and seemed like she could parry ten more easily, because even beneath that blaster onslaught, she managed to move towards them.

"We can't pin her!" Londo said.

"Let me help you, then!" The Pilgrim sounded. The sound of her downwards turret extending had Londo grinning as he replied.

"What took you so long, Pilgrim?"

"I wanted to see if you really need my help. You know, so I can feel appreciated."

At two paces of the Pilgrim's ramp, the woman took a step back as the Pilgrim's lasers, two leg-thick plasma shots that would have vaporized anyone's torso, blasted at her along with Zeryn and Londo's shots. The woman did manage to parry those shots as well, but the impact of Pilgrim's lasers against her lightsaber threw her back at every parry, and as she retreated, an opening grew in her defenses.

They just might make it.

Zeryn reached the ramp and as soon as she stepped in, the Pilgrim was rising in the air, carrying them along as they grasped at the open ramp's pistons to keep their balance. Londo, Zeryn and the Pilgrim kept shooting at the woman as she diminished in their sight until she was as small as a dot in the tiny dock they had just left.

"One takeoff" Londo said, "All I ask is for one peaceful takeoff."

"What the drak was that?" Zeryn asked "Who is that woman?"

"Don't know." Londo replied, running towards the cockpit "Ask Ean. She tried to kidnap him."

Zeryn turned to Ean, who said.

"She did, and she's coming for us."

Londo and Zeryn stopped running to stare at him.

"Is she?" Londo said.

"Yeah. She's got a B-Wing. You can bet she's on her way there right now."

"How special." Zeryn said.

"Pilgrim" Londo said "get us out of this planet right now."

"Do we have enough fuel, Londo?" Zeryn asked.

"Yeah" Londo replied as he strapped himself to the pilot's chair "Full tank. We are plotting a non-stop course to Threryn station".

Zeryn held Ean's arm.

"Let me be the gunner this time, kid. I'm sure I can do a better job." And left without waiting for an answer. Ean looked around and sounded uncertain as he asked.

"Is there something for me to do?"

"Keeping out of the way is good enough for me, but sit in this chair over there and the Pilgrim will give you tactical display so you can scan her ship and tell us what you see. Pilgrim?"

"I know, Londo. I'm on shields and engineering."

Londo chuckled.

"Actually, I was going to say: good job with the laser turret. It really saved us back there."

"Oh, don't mention it. The bitch wanted to blow me up. I'm just sorry I couldn't repay the favor. But, not too much sorry, you know, because here she comes."

A ship icon appeared in Londo's display, closing in so fast that it just had to be a starfighter. Not any starfighter, too, but a B-wing. Even with her thruster upgrades, the Pilgrim wasn't match for a B-wing in sublight speed. They had about twenty seconds before engagement.

"Pilgrim, can we outrun her?"

"We are still within the planet gravitational field, Londo, and a thruster overload would not get us out of here in time."

Zeryn talked to them through the intercom.

"It worked on Nar Shaddaa."

"Nar Shaddaa is a moon." Pilgrim explained, "We had less distance to cover, and we were outrunning police ships. A B-Wing is much faster than that."

"Not to mention" Londo cut in "it drains all our shields. I only use it when I am totally sure we're getting away right after it ends".

"Londo!" Pilgrim's urgent tone and the red lights blaring had Londo gritting his teeth. The B-Wing had just locked on to them.

"But…" Zeryn said "we are still not in range of–"

Little yellow dots indicating missiles blinked up in the display.

"Missile upgrades. Hell. Everyone hold on."

No time for any more talk as Londo veered the ship right and rolled down. The missiles followed, swift and true towards their target. Londo rolled to the other side, with no effect. Impact would come in three, two…

Londo tilted the ship and hit the counter-thrusters with maximum force. The ship lost most of its speed and the missiles all zoomed past it, hissing as they scraped the side fuselage.

"Wow!" Ean cried.

Wow indeed. Londo's maneuver might have saved them from the missiles, but it put them right under firing range of the B-Wing.

"It doesn't make sense!" Ean shouted "she wanted to kidnap me. Why does she want to kill me now?"

Yellow and blue energy blasts filled the space between the two ships. Zeryn knew her way as a gunner. She only missed the B-Wing because the woman maneuvered like mad. Almost as good as Londo.

Londo kicked in the thrusters again, for whatever good they would do them, as he evaded all of the B-Wing's shots as well. With the Pilgrim assisting his maneuvers, he was pretty much sure he could keep evading that woman's fire if only he kept total focus on piloting and if the ship kept moving erratically.

Which was just what wasn't going to happen. In less than a minute, they would clear the planet's gravitational field and then he would have to sit still for a few seconds while the hyperdrive kicked in. However, a B-Wing with a pilot as good as that could easily drain their shields and target the hyperdrive before the time it would take them to enter hyperspace.

"Zeryn, turn two of the turrets forward." Londo said.

"Okay, but–"

Londo lined his ship right in front of the B-Wing, full power to rear shields, and kicked the counterthrust, in a collision course with the fighter.

The impact would have demolished the B-Wing but the woman dodged at the very last second. Londo accelerated again, now at the woman's back. She already maneuvered out of his way but Londo was – barely – able keep her in sight.

Shots and more shots came from the Pilgrim towards the B-Wing. The woman veered right and left, rolled and strafed so quickly that Londo had to whistle to himself at such skill.

The B-Wing stopped accelerating, did a 180 turn and started flying backwards, looking right at them. Before Londo could blink, another salvo of shots hit them right in the front as both ships zipped past one another.

One quick blink was all warning Londo had that the woman had dropped an explosive charge where she was, right in their path. Londo turned the ship as fast as possible but the impact had them all shaking in their seats.

"I'm hit." Pilgrim said. "My left turret is offline, and the left counter-thruster is damaged"

Where was the woman? Coming back towards them. At least, they had cleared the planet's gravity.

"Pilgrim, we are going for a blind jump."

"A what?" Ean asked.

"You don't want to know" Zeryn answered.

"I imagined you would want to do it, Londo. Calculations are complete."

The ship rumbled again as two more shots hit them.

"Get us out of here!" Londo screamed as he prayed in his thoughts.

The stars extended before them just for a tiny bit and were back to normal in a fraction of a second.

"What happened?" Ean asked.

"We jumped into hyperspace and exited within the same system. Very risky stuff."

"Very risky?" Zeryn sounded outraged "We would have easily died. Do you know the chances of a successful blind jump?"

"As a matter of fact I do. And I also know that with the Pilgrim the chance is way higher."

Another dot appeared in their displays. The B-Wing.

"She followed us?" Ean asked, disbelieving.

"She did" Londo could not hide his appreciation. That woman deserved a medal or something. "Too late, though."

"New calculations are complete, Londo" The Pilgrim said. "Jumping in four, three…" More missiles came out of the B-Wing. Londo did not veer the ship, though. "two…" closing in… "one…" They would hit. They would hit.

Hyperjump. The stretching stars seemed to embrace them to safety, right before missile impact.


	10. Chapter 10

Ean clenched his fists and half expected the B-Wing to come to their pursuit even after they jumped into hyperspace. When he finally convinced himself that she wouldn't, he ran his hands across his hair as he said.

"That was… really close."

Londo turned his chair to face Ean.

"Alright, who is that woman, kid?"

Ean spread his hands.

"I don't know! I swear I don't. She came at me in the docks, pointed a gun to me and said she was kidnapping me."

"Wait a minute" Zeryn said as she entered the cockpit and took a seat "You mean to say she had a gun at you and still you turned back and ran away?"

"Well… I kind of confronted her... tried to escape, then she stopped me, but then I did land her a punch, and while she was stunned I ran off. But I don't understand it… I really don't. She said she was taking me with her. Why did she suddenly started shooting and throwing missiles at the Pilgrim? If she wanted me alive, she wouldn't have done it…"

"I think I can answer that" The Pilgrim sounded "Her blaster shots were all in stun setting, and when she shot at us from the B-Wing, all her shots and missiles were ion. She wasn't trying to destroy us, only to disable us."

"Wait a minute" Londo said as he looked up "You mean the thruster and turret damage is just ion? There's no structural damage?"

"Correct Londo. You should be able to repair them without even getting us out of hyperspace."

Londo exhaled like his life had suddenly been spared.

"Oh, good… we need that counter-thruster."

"How did she do it?" Ean asked as he stared repeatedly at Londo and Zeryn "How did she follow us through our first jump?"

"It was a blind jump. We didn't enter any space lanes. She could have found our route by extrapolating on the direction of our jump."

"Yes…" Zeryn said "but how did she know when to stop? I understand she could have entered hyperspace and followed us, but how could she have possibly known when to take her ship out of hyperspace in order to intercept us so close?"

Londo and Zeryn stared at each other like this answer could save their hides.

"Maybe…" Ean said "she used the force? She's a jedi, isn't she? Couldn't she have used the force to do it? I read that in the battle of Yavin Luke Skywalker did something very much like it to destroy the first Death Star."

Londo frowned, but Zeryn nodded.

"She could have" Zeryn said, "She really could have…"

"I don't know…" Londo said, "I like to go over all plausible options before resorting to the explanation of a mystical force that only a handful of people in the galaxy can control or even sense."

Ean looked down. Londo did have a point… for someone who didn't much believe in the Force, but it seemed to him that they should actually consider the Force as a first explanation, as far as the jedi woman was concerned. For all he read about the jedi and the sith, they actually tend to rely on the force much more than would be advisable, so it's just logical that she would use the Force for everything. She might have been using it all through their dogfight. Could the Force make her a better pilot? It sure seems to make her a good lightsaber fighter. Ean would have to look it up on the holonet too.

Zeryn looked around.

"Is there a drink in this ship? I swear I need a drink right now."

Londo motioned towards the corridor.

"There's a bar in the common room. Pilgrim, show her, please."

Ean got up right after Zeryn.

"Can I go somewhere to rest? How long will our flight take?"

Londo stared at him so quickly that Ean took a half-step back. He seemed about to utter some accusation, but when he opened his mouth, spoke like he had just changed his mind about it.

"The Pilgrim's got very nice rooms. Help yourself to any one that's not locked. We will be enroute for about three days, because I want to keep off the main hyperlanes. But don't you think you're off the hook. You will help me repair the damage to the Pilgrim, yes sir."

Like it had been Ean's fault… but Ean thought better than to argue with Londo. He lowered his head and hoped his confusion would be mistaken for acquiescence.

"Alright, Londo."

Ean went to his room, and all the while, even after everything that just occurred to them, one thing Londo said would not leave him alone: "is there someone who is not out to get you?"

Because it seemed that, yes… everyone he meet is out to get him. A droid army tried to capture him and whoever was controlling it had no scruples to kill hundreds just to get to him. A jedi woman just tried to kidnap him and nearly did it. A jedi... with a lightsaber and the Force and everything. Even Londo and Zeryn… they protected him just because he was worth ten million. To top it all… his mother. The so-called Corsair… was definitely hiding something. No only she wouldn't reveal her real name, she wouldn't even tell him his. All of his identity was based on a made-up name in a forged ID card.

Who was he? Why was this happening? Would he ever find out before someone finally offed him?

The only thing he knew, which seemed more and more real, was that he had some sort of connection with the Force. Of that, he had no doubt. He could sense when someone was going to attack him. He did that even from behind, and this feeling allowed him to dodge most blaster shots. He sensed that the jedi woman carried thermal charges, and that one was missing, and not only missing but planted on their ship. Plus, he took three stun shots, twice, without fainting. Sure they made him kind of woozy… but three stun shots could take down even the sturdiest gamorrean.

Yet, when he threw the thermal charge at the jedi woman and tried to use the Force to keep it close to her, he failed miserably. The woman flicked the charge upwards and even all of Ean's concentration couldn't stop it. He needed someone who could help him with that, someone to teach him how this all worked, because if this power was even half as big as the stories went, he would be in murky waters if he tried to find his way by himself.

Threryn station was his best bet for any clarification. So, for now, he would go along with Londo and Zeryn.

Londo did call him the next day to help in the repairs, and, much to Ean's surprise, he wasn't completely useless with that. He memorized the various tools with a first glance, and just by looking at Londo working was able to infer correctly which tool he would need. After they completed the repairs, Ean asked Londo what could he read to better help him in repairing the Pilgrim in the future, and Londo gave him a list of e-books so long his pad had ten scroll-down pages. Nevertheless, Ean took them to his room and decided he would not come out of there until he had a basic grasp on starship mechanics.

That way, he would be able to help them in at least one way.

On the second day, as he finished a reading session and closed his eyes to sleep, the mention of his name in the common room – no more than a whisper – caused him to lie still and strain to hear what Londo and Zeryn were saying.

It was nearly impossible to make out their voices through the closed doors of his room, but Ean found that if he focused on their voices and made an effort to erase all other feelings from his mind, he could hear them speaking more and more clearly.

"on the chest, Zeryn!" Londo was saying.

"Yes, I saw the video from the Pilgrim's cameras. I would not have believed without seeing it."

"And there's more. Right before the crazy jedi appeared, he just jumped at me and threw me down, and at that very moment, a blaster shot passed right where I was. He could not have seen it. The shots came from behind him!"

"So, he saved your life, Londo."

"Yes, but how did he do it?"

"I think you know the answer to this question."

"Don't you say 'with the Force'. The jedi are gone. Sure, there's Luke Skywalker and I've heard he's training some sort of new generation, but that's a long way from here and they must be just a bunch of young people. That woman's what? Fourty, fifty yeards old? She can't be a jedi."

"Well, we've just been attacked by one."

"We were attacked by a woman who uses the Force and has a lightsaber. Yes, we were. That is not the same as a jedi. The jedi were a religion. This woman, she could be anything."

"So what are you saying, Londo?"

"Maybe… maybe we are in way over our heads on this one, Zeryn. Maybe ten million just doesn't cover the trouble of being hunted like we're being."

Ean tried his best not to move a muscle.

"Maybe not, Londo, but this is all almost over. We are nearing Threryn station. We'll hand Ean to the Corsair, split the money between ourselves, and never speak of this again."

It seemed they were drinking, by the sound of ice on glass.

"I hope you are right, Zeryn… I do hope you are right…"

The sound of their steps and of closing doors told Ean they both went to their rooms. Only then did Ean allow himself to roll over his bed and try to sleep.

He also hoped Zeryn was right. He desperately hoped she was right.


	11. Chapter 11

Ean flexed his fingers as the countdown for leaving hyperspeed went below one minute. Soon, very soon, he would meet his mother, who would tell him who he is, why everyone wants to capture him and what's with this "Force" thing. Londo and Zeryn would get their money… good for them, and in time Ean would likely forget this ever happened. Soon. In less than 30 seconds. In fact, in only…

The ship rumbled and Ean flew off his chair as they suddenly left hyperspeed. As he crashed on the floor, his only thought was that it seemed they had gone out of hyperspace a microsecond too soon.

"What's going on?" Zeryn said, also on the floor.

"Holy crap!" Londo screamed. He was the only one still sitting.

Ean thought of helping Zeryn get up, but before he could a hand, she was already rising and running past him towards the co-pilot seat.

"Oh… no." She said.

Ean got up, and his "what is it" question died in his mind just as he stared beyond the ship's cockpit.

A myriad of small yellow plasma lines crossed over the space going from every point into every direction. Little dots zipped and zigzagged past one another as they spew blasts at each other, all against a backdrop of intermittent, cruiser-ship lights.

They came out of hyperspeed amidst a very engaged space battle. Fighters numbering the hundreds fought all over a capital ship, one of those triangular-shaped ships the empire used to employ when it was still around.

Zeryn had the rawest expression of panic in her face.

"Get us out of here. Now!" She cried as she shook Londo's elbow.

Londo typed as little slower than usual as Zeryn kept kept shaking him, but still he would not leave his eye off the battle before them.

"Pilgrim, you heard the lady."

"I'm sorry Londo." Pilgrim sounded as calm as ever "We are under the influence of an interdiction field."

Londo opened his mouth and seemed close to letting out all of his swear word repertoire, but instead only opened and closed his mouth a few times.

"That's why we got out of hyperspace a little too soon." Ean said, and actually surprised himself with how calm he sounded given the circumstances.

An alarm started blaring in the cockpit screens. Four dots approached the Pilgrim.

"Get ready everyone." Londo said "We have incoming ships."

Zeryn rushed out of the cockpit, probably on her way to the gunner seat. Ean sat down on the passenger seat as the Pilgrim already opened the tactical display screen before him.

"Pilgrim" Londo said "give me the quickest vector out of this interdiction."

Blaster shots started sounding throughout the ship. That was Zeryn doing her work. The starts outside of the cockpit veered and twisted as Londo started doing his. Ean completely lost the sense of what was going on outside the ship.

He scanned a few of the ships engaged in battle, trying to get a sense of who was fighting who. Was it the Republic? The First Order? The Hutts? All of his scans revealed that those were all droid ships – on both sides of the battle. It was hard to say how many of those were attacking and how many were defending, because they were all so different from each other, but it seemed, by the way they moved, that there was one group of ships intent on defending the cruiser, and another intent on destroying it. It was to this second group that the ships now attacking them seemed to belong.

The cockpit flared white as a droid ship exploded right before them.

"One down!" Zeryn yelled.

No sooner had Zeryn said that, another salvo of blue ion shots zoomed past them as Londo maneuvered the ship around their attackers. The Pilgrim's yellow-white lasers turrets soon met them again as the dogfight recommenced.

Blue-ion shots. Their attackers were trying to disable them. Why would they be attacking them with ion and the cruiser with plasma… unless they knew Ean was aboard this ship. Which could only mean…

"They are the droid army." Ean said.

"What?" Londo replied with a hint of irritation. Ean could see the tension in his face as he focused almost completely on the dogfight.

If those ships were from the same droid army that tried to capture him, and they wanted to destroy that cruiser, then almost certainly Ean would want to get in there. These were, after all, the coordinates where his mother said she'd meet them, and as soon as they arrived, they find this battle? She's in there. In the cruiser. Ean was sure of it, and Londo was plotting an escape route out of here. Ean could understand his survival instinct, but if they managed to leave in one piece, when would he ever get another chance to meet his mother? What if she perished in this very same battle? He could not run this risk. He had to…

Londo suddenly veered the ship right as Zeryn destroyed yet another droid ship. Ean had to hand it to her. She was, indeed, far better at this than he was. Already she had taken out almost all of their attackers, save two, and the Pilgrim still had more than half its shield strength. Soon, they would be out of opponents, and then…

Londo would leave, carrying Ean away from his mother, and from the truth about himself. That he could not allow.

"We have to go in there." Ean said.

"What? In where?" Londo replied with clenched teeth.

"In there. The battle. We have to help the cruiser."

Another salvo of shots was exchanged between the Pilgrim and the droid ships.

"Are you insane, Ean? We are going to get the hell out of here."

"My mother is in that ship." He replied, louder than he intended.

"Luke frigging Skywalker could be in that ship and still we would get the hell out, you hear me? It's a war zone in there. You have the tactical screen. Tell me how many ships are attacking the cruiser."

Hundreds. Three hundred seventy two, to be precise. Ops, seventy one. Against one hundred fourteen that were protecting the cruiser, but the cruiser was raining down plasma on those ships, so it did seem like it would win, in time.

Would Ean take this chance, though? Hell, no.

"Please, Londo, please. It's my mother!"

"Ean, shut up and sit down" Londo replied. "We'll come back later."

"It's ten million credits" He had to play the money card.

"It's my life!" Londo yelled. "Life trumps money all the time."

"And mine!" Zeryn sounded through the intercom.

"And thanks for mentioning me." The Pilgrim said.

Another ship exploded further away from them. Now they had only one opponent.

"We're gonna make it!" Londo said "Everyone prepare for hyperspeed."

They were going away. They were actually going to jump away from Ean's mother. What would he do? There were no escape pods in the Pilgrim, no smaller ship in the cargo bay. He was stuck with Londo and Zeryn whether he liked it or not, and no way to reach the cruiser short of…

Well, maybe there was something he could do.

Ean jumped out of his chair and through the Pilgrim's common room. Either Londo or the Pilgrim could have easily stopped him, but he had a pretty good idea they both had their hands full at the moment to pay much attention to him. No one would believe what he was about to do anyway, so they all likely thought Ean would play nice and let them carry him away with them.

In the cargo hold, Ean opened the supply crate that contained the space suits, and as quickly as he could got into one. The ship rumbled and veered as the dogfight went on, but Ean managed to get in the suit in less than a minute.

His time fixing the Pilgrim with Londo did help him get to know the corners and spots of the ship, like the inconspicuous emergency airlock just beside the hyperdrive. By law airlocks had to have a manual release and override, so that the crew could escape even if the ship's computer malfunctioned. In this case, it meant that the Pilgrim could not stop Ean even if she knew what he was about to do.

As Ean reached the airlock door, Zeryn celebrated her last kill through the intercom.

"And it's gone. We are clear, Londo."

"Hold on everybody! We are clearing the interdiction field in less than thirty seconds."

Ean opened the airlock door and stepped in the tight room.

"Londo!" The Pilgrim sounded "We have a problem."

Ean closed the inner door.

"What is it now, Pilgrim?"

"It's Ean. He's…"

Off he went. Jettisoned out of the Pilgrim through the airlock.

Thrust into the utter silence of outer space, Ean's space suit compensated for his spinning and levelled him head first towards the Pilgrim. The lustrous exterior of the ship faded quickly against the countless stars, and soon became just another shinning dot. It seemed to Ean that the ship turned around for a bit and then turned back away from him, as if it still thought about coming back for him, but a number of other, approaching sparkling lights may have helped them decide to leave for good, because that could only mean a number of droid ships approached.

Ean turned his suit towards the cruiser and propelled himself towards it. The suit computer calculated the distance and time to reach the ship at his best acceleration, plotting it in his helmet visor. Three hundred kilometers and three minutes, respectively, but even as he started propelling himself, he found that in his rush to get to his mother, he failed to consider the hundreds of fighters between him and the cruiser. Three of those closed in on him.

A text message popped in his visor.

"Welcome. I was expecting you. Please, board the ship closest to you and I will navigate you into the cruiser. Then we can talk more properly."

The three starfighters levelled their speed with his, and one of them opened up its cockpit for Ean. Only then did Ean realized that these weren't truly droid ships. They were ordinary starfighters, refitted to be flown remotely. He was actually floating beside at a small A-Wing squadron, his ride home. Home at last.


	12. Chapter 12

Ean stepped out of the A-Wing into a hangar so big that all of the fleet fighting outside could fit in it three times over. Certainly, there were at least twice that much ships docked in there, waiting for their turn as damaged starfighters arrived and new ones took off. The whole place bustled with service droids, drone ships, astromechs, repair droids and docking clamps moving from one place to the other. Nothing organic, though. All over Ean, the only moving things were electronic.

Except for the person at the hangar entrance, wearing a full set of combat armor. Surrounded by four sentry droids, he strode through the hangar towards Ean as Ean turned his head all over, taking in the massive size of that hangar and the amount of ships therein.

"At last, we meet. Welcome to the Black Dawn, my young man." he said. Humanoid, his rigid, though lean body armor gave him the appearance of a spy operative, while the white cape falling over his elbows tempered that appearance with a sense of authority. His red face had yellow sunken eyes staring at Ean over a near non-existent nose, and a mouth whose teeth were fangs.

Ean rose his eyebrows as that person approached.

"A Gen'Dai." He said. They were very rare indeed. A secretive species of which very few knew about. Ean, it seemed, was one of those few.

"Very perceptive, my young arkanian. I am Doctor Revennus Khran, though I'd appreciate if you called me doctor Khran. I am the owner of this small vessel here."

Should Ean introduce himself with his made-up name? What would Khran think of it if he knew who Ean were? Anyway, it could be awkward, but it would be better than not introducing himself at all.

"I'm… Ean Van Tassel… I think. For now."

Ean turned at the flare of another ship exploding beyond the hangar force fields. Khran pointed towards the hangar doors he had come from.

"Come with me, Ean, please. Let's talk where it's safer."

Without waiting for an answer, Khran turned around and started walking out of the hangar. It was all Ean could do to follow him.

"Thanks, mister… doctor Khran, but I actually came here looking for my mother…"

"Ah, yes. The Corsair, isn't it?"

Ean hurried closer to him.

"Yes! That's her holonet alias!"

The corridors within the cruiser were no less crowded than the hangar. Every possible kind of droid passed them by. Combat droids, maintenance ones, trash units, medical droids and even protocol ones. A few of the models Ean didn't even recognize like the oval drones that sometimes flew over them with a myriad of appendages hanging below.

"Is everyone here a droid?" Ean asked, curiosity gaining over him in spite of him wanting to know about his mother.

"Oh, yes. The Black Dawn is serviced entirely by droids. It is not a droid ship, mind you, but it is a ship with a droid crew."

"And… who are the ships attacking you?"

Khran slowed his pace a little, lowering his head and furrowing his brow. He took some time to answer.

"That would be the Watcher."

"The who?"

"The Watcher. I do think you really know nothing of him, do you?"

"I… no… I have no idea who he is. Who is he?"

"Someone intent on appropriating my research for his own heartless ends."

They came into a hallway filled with upward and downward ramps, encompassing three floors, and a number of glass turbolift shafts. They stopped before one of them as Khran touched its control pad.

"Research?" Ean asked "What is it you do here… all alone? And where is my mother?"

"Oh, yes… The Corsair. I am her messenger, so to speak. Her plan was to meet you here, but… as you saw outside… that plan was somewhat deterred."

"So where is she?"

Khran entered the turbolift. Ean followed right after, and as soon as he did, they started ascending the cruiser decks.

"She is far away. Safe, where she should be. She wanted to appear to you through a hologram, you see."

"And, can't we…" Ean gasped as the turbolift emerged through a veritable tropical forest. They ascended through threes as high as four or five decks, illuminated by an artificial sky so perfect that Ean for a moment forgot he was inside of a spaceship. Birds flew, animals grazed the grass while others ran, and far beyond, he could even see what seemed like an ocean.

"Ah, yes…" Khran sounded smug "my ecosphere. Quite something, isn't it?"

"It's… wow…"

"Wow indeed, my young man. I collect rare specimen from all over the galaxy and carefully introduce them to my small ecosystem here. All part of my research, you see."

The turbolift passed over the artificial sky, and again they were plunged into the gloom of the cruiser's internal lights.

"I guess that's why the rest of the ship is so packed, right? That ecosystem must take… what… five decks?"

Khran smiled a little.

"Five decks it is, and almost the entire width of the ship, except for the gravity well generators… Ah, here we are."

As he stepped out of the turbolift and into another set of corridors, Ean hurried along asking.

"Alright, then, why can't we just call my mother now?"

"Yes… you see… The Corsair likes to use my ship for communication because I have what you could call an untraceable communication system with her. Unfortunately, those ships out there that are so intent on ending my beautiful ecosphere have managed to damage my communications array quite severely. Until it's repaired, I'm afraid I won't be communicating with anyone, really."

"Oh…" Ean eased his stride at the news.

So… no meeting, no Mother, no truth about himself. He had come, as it seemed, to another dead end. However aimless he were right now, though, at least Khran was the first person he met who knew something about himself, and that was a chance Ean would not let go of… if he could only catch up with the doctor.

Ean rushed and halted right before Khran.

"Would you stop walking already?"

Khran raised what passed for Gen'Dai eyebrows and an expression that could either be surprise or amusement.

"You are the first person I found who knows something about me. I understand my mother wanted to talk to me herself, but you have got to give me something here. I don't think you know this, but I've got no memory, like, at all. I don't even know my real name. Everything I know about myself are things that other people told me, and I'm not even sure I can trust that. So, please, tell me who I am. At least tell me my real name!"

Khran slowly crossed his arms as he stared at Ean through a half-open mouth, which, with its sharp teeth, made it seem like he was about to chew of his arm.

"You are just… so…"

So what? Desperate? Impetuous? Confused? Clueless to his bone?

"Sincere!" Khran said, though it did seem he wanted to mean something else. "It's actually very interesting, you know? I… don't know your… 'real' name, Ean Van Tassel, and I don't suppose your mother knows as well, because as far as I've been told, you never had one."

Ean took a step back and held on to the dark-grey corridor wall.

"What do you mean… I've never had one?"

Khran replied very slowly, and Ean could almost sense his reluctance as he chose the next words very carefully.

"Your mother never got to meet you. You were taken from her right after she conceived you. She never told me which name she planned to give you, but I don't think she had one chosen yet. So, if you took for yourself the name of Ean Van Tassel, then that's exactly who you are."

"She… never met me? I was taken from her? But… why?"

"Because… you are very special, Ean…"

"Wait, is this about that 'destiny with the Force' thing?"

Khran eased up as Ean said that.

"It's precisely about that. You do have a… destiny with the Force, and I was sent here, by your mother, to steer you in its path."

Again, Ean meet another person that can give him nothing but vague answers and empty promises. How could he trust this Khran? At least he could understand Londo's and Zeryn's motivations: money, but Khran? Who was Ean to him? Why would he go out of his way and put an interdictor cruiser in danger just to help him?

What choice did he have, though? Not trust him? And go where? Do where? The only thing Ean could be sure of was that for some reason, a lot of powerful people were interested in him. The Corsair was a master slicer, and Khran here had – yet another – droid army at his disposal. Not to mention that "Watcher", who was likely the one behind the first droid army that went after Ean. He may not really trust anyone he met so far, but maybe the best move would be to play along for a while.

"I know…" Khran said as he resumed walking, slowly this time "that I cannot give you a complete explanation… but there is one thing I can give you, Ean Van Tassel."

"What's that?"

Khran stopped before a double door, and said as he opened them theatrically.

"A gift."


	13. Chapter 13

Londo stared at the Pilgrim's countdown, ready to key in hyperspeed as soon as they could hyperdrive again.

"Hold on everybody! We are clearing the interdiction field in less than thirty seconds."

The Pilgrim's voice sounded in the cockpit with that slight tint of alarm that Londo knew all too well.

"Londo! We have a problem."

Another? Bigger than two armies colliding? What could it possibly be?

"What is it now, Pilgrim?"

"It's Ean. He's in the airlock, he… He's gone."

"What do you mean, gone?" Zeryn asked, seeming much more alarmed than the Pilgrim.

"He is out of the ship. He airlocked himself into space."

Londo clasped at the chair's armrests until he felt his fingers burning with pain.

"He what?"

"And you didn't stop him, Pilgrim?" Zeryn asked.

"There was nothing I could do." The Pilgrim replied, "He used the security manual override."

Damn that crazy arkanian. Damn him to hell.

"Where is he, Pilgrim?" Londo asked "Do you have a lock on him?" The screens showed a pale dot trailing after them and the "Ean" tag right beside it. They also showed three new incoming ships, and the interdiction field they were almost clearing.

"Go back, Pilgrim, let's get him" Zeryn said.

The Pilgrim already started turning before Londo could confirm the order.

"Pilgrim, can we get to him before those three incoming ships close in on us?"

"We can't, Londo."

Insolent thoughtless irresponsible selfish disrespectful traitorous arkanian brat! Could Londo still turn back and pick him up, whether he wanted it or not? Most likely, but could he do it while dogfighting three droid ships? Most certainly not. Not to mention that attempting to do it could mean Ean's death. A ship could crash into him, a stray shot could blast him to oblivion, or a stray missile could lock into him by mistake. There was no way he could safely rescue Ean right now. He could only finish his escape from the battle.

"Pilgrim, we're not going after him. Take us out of here as soon as we clear the interdiction field."

"But Londo…" Zeryn started.

"Forget it, Zeryn. No way we can get him safely aboard with three incoming ships. We have to move out."

Zeryn said nothing else, but it was almost like Londo could see her fuming in her seat.

Five seconds later, the stars stretched out before him as the blue tunnel of hyperspace formed around the ship. They travelled for about ten seconds, enough to clear a half light year or so, and then came back into normal space.

Zeryn came into the cockpit. The anger in her face was more effective than anything she could have said. Longo immediately raised his hands.

"I know, I know…" he said "Ten million and all, but think about it, Zeryn. Ean was very vulnerable out there. Going back for him was just too risky right then."

Zeryn breathed heavily in and out, as if trying to think of something reasonable to reply. When she did, she sounded more sullen than outraged, which was progress, as far as Londo was concerned.

"We could have made it."

"Yes…" He agreed, trying to appease her somehow "I really think, with you and I together, we could… but we could just as well have killed him. Think about it, Zeryn."

She raised her chin, and sighed like accepting defeat.

"Right. That may be so… But what do we do now?"

"Now? Now we go back, of course, even if only to get our reward from the Corsair…"

How, though? How could he go back to a place he had to run away from in the first place? Even with a ship as good as The Pilgrim, he wouldn't be match for a cruiser and two fleets. Although… when he arrived there, they were all taken by the surprise of the moment. This time, they would know where they were getting themselves into. Perhaps they could go back, only not like before. They had to evaluate their odds, lay out the path they would take, look at their scans of the battle.

"We need a plan..." He said, half-absent-minded.

"We cannot wait until that battle is over, Londo."

"Why not? Would you go back amidst two fleets and a cruiser firing at each other?"

"It's the perfect cover for our approach. If we wait for the battle to be over and try to approach an interdictor cruiser alone, we will get blasted out of the sky before closing in half the distance."

She did have a point, but… to dive deep within that crossfire?

"That would require mad piloting…"

"Well" Zeryn crossed her arms "We have you for that."

Londo couldn't help but smirking.

"Alright, say we can dodge all those cannon shots and the cruiser's turbolasers... What then? We can't possibly go in to their hangar and walk around like we belong there."

"I think I can help with that, Londo" The Pilgrim replied. Londo and Zeryn turned to the cockpit's 3D screens as a hologram of the interdictor popped up.

"Before leaving the ship, Ean did scan it with my sensors. This is the cruiser as it was when we left the battle. Look at these three points here." Three parts of the cruiser started flashing and zoomed in, parts so damaged that the outer hull had been burned off.

"Hull breaches." Zeryn said.

"If we manage to attach to this breach here…" The pilgrim went on "We will be out of the cruiser's turbolaser's firing angle, and you can use the breach as a way in to the ship."

Londo raised his head and found Zeryn staring at him like she suddenly, only now, believed this could actually work.

"If we do this, Pilgrim…" Zeryn said "What's to prevent some of the fleet's ships from firing at you?"

"After we attach ourselves to the breach, Zeryn, I can go invisible."

Zeryn's eyes widened clearly more than a human's eyes are meant to.

"Wait… can she do this? Can this ship become invisible?"

Londo chuckled as he replied.

"No. The Pilgrim means that she can shut down nearly all of her systems and go into standby. Those are all droid ships out there, they are being guided by their own sensors, and if the Pilgrim erases all of her heat and electromagnetic signatures, she can become as good as invisible to them."

Zeryn placed her hands on her hips and half-smiled as she said.

"I do think we have a plan, Londo Zaani."

Londo still wasn't entirely sure, though. After all, he was going back into a frigging war zone, on purpose, and with only one ship against two fleets and a cruiser. The odds were definitely not stacked on their favor. However, Zeryn was right when she said waiting was not an option. Ean was there, the Corsair was there, and this means his ten million were there, and he would dive into ten warzones to get that cash. So, convinced or not, sure or not, he would do what he had to.

He quickly pointed to inside the ship with his head as he said.

"Go back to the turrets, Zeryn. Pilgrim, plot us a course as close as possible to that breach. We are going back in, ladies, and it's going to be a bumpy ride this time."


	14. Chapter 14

Ean stepped into a circular room shinning with multicolored crystals of every size and shape, most of which glowed with some sort of plasma-like internal light. The sofas, also arranged in a circular pattern, gave the place the impression of a small exhibit, the core of which seemed to be those items filling the wall.

Lightsabers. Dozens, hundreds of them. Of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Ean realized he was gaping only when he tried to say something, and found his mouth already open.

"That's…" he started.

"Amazing? Awestriking? Impressive?"

"Yeah… all that…"

A glass display case at the very center of the room showed a lightsaber completely disassembled, its pieces held floating in space by a contragravity field.

"How did you… get so many?"

"This, my young boy…" Khran said as he motioned around him with a grand gesture "is the crux of my research. Lightsabers. I am fascinated with them. Their sheer impossibility. The way they play with light as if it was liquid. The way they touch one another as if solid… and yet, made of light. Their physics, their architecture... it's pure genius."

"You… research lightsabers?" Ean asked without taking his eyes off the wall.

"Oh, yes… I have been researching them for the last five hundred years. But most importantly…" Khran picked up a glowing gem from a display case "Their crystals. They are at the center of everything a lightsaber does, the light bending and light interference. They are called kyber crystals, and are the only known material to occur spontaneously in nature which resonates with the Force."

Ean turned to Khran, who still stood at the center of the room.

"But… why do you need an ecosphere for that?"

"Because…" Khran raised a finger and lowered his voice, like someone about to confide a secret "I'm trying to grow them."

"That…" Ean gasped "is possible?"

"I've had some limited success." Khran said with a dismissive tone that left Ean wondering just how much of a "success" he had. Khran went on. "The thing is, the kyber crystals need contact with life in order to develop their force sensitivity, and not just any life, but a very particular occurrence of specific organisms living close to them. I am trying to find the best configuration of life force that allows them to awaken to the Force." Khran did a little bow "You can be amazed now."

"Wow… again." What else could Ean say? "But how does that has anything to do with me? And my mother?"

Khran approached him.

"You've been told, time and again, that you have a destiny in the force, yes?"

"Yes, even though knowing that isn't really helpful at all."

"It's time to steer you towards your destiny, Ean Van Tassel. Choose a lightsaber. Any one."

Ean stared at Khran for a while.

"I can… pick one?"

Khran rolled his eyes like Ean had just said the stupidest thing.

"No, I don't mean you can just 'pick' one as if you were in a Dantooine county fair picking your vegetables. Choose one. Really choose. Look inside of yourself, outside to these marvels around you, and find the one that is yours. The lightsaber that has just been waiting for you."

Ean turned at the wall and paced it slowly. So many lightsabers there. Small, large, double, single, twin and lone. Old, new, colorful and bland. How could he choose? He touched a few of them, trying to sense something in them, but nothing really came to him. How could he choose? Was it a test? Was there a correct answer to this? What could Khran be expecting him to do?

Still, this was an opportunity. There was some sort of connection between him and the Force, and if that were truth, then he would at least try to use it. To "search his feelings", like the masters used to say.

He closed his eyes. Pictured in his mind's eye the cylindrical wall of lightsabers. Imagined them all surrounded by a blue glow, but one of the lightsabers shining brighter. One of them calling to him. Which one was it? What was its shape… its color?

He suddenly knew. Like an image popping unbidden in his mind… he knew what lightsaber to pick up. It wasn't the most stylish, or the most colorful. In fact, it was only white and grey, but it was his lightsaber. Of that, he had no doubt.

Ean approached the wall and picked it up. It felt right in his hand. It felt… proper.

Khran chuckled.

"Well… my oh my…" he said.

"What?" Ean said "did I choose right?"

Khran approached him.

"Did you choose right? You chose it right on spot, my boy. That lightsaber once belonged to a very ancient master called Ardos Camarr."

"Oh…" Ean stared at the lightsaber in his hands "and this means… what?"

"Why, that you must go to him, of course."

"Go to him?"

"Indeed. As fate would have it, just recently an archeological expedition uncovered an ancient temple within which was the holocron of Ardos Camarr. That just happened, you know? A few weeks ago. And today, you come in here and choose his lightsaber."

"What's a… holocron?"

Khran raised a hand and went to a cabinet beside one of the sofas. From it, he produced a small cube with geometric shapes designed over it, covering what seemed like a crystalline core that glowed. The whole apparatus fit his hand almost perfectly.

"This is a holocron. I mean, this is not a real holocron, it's a replica, but that's how they look, for the most part. The crystalline core is composed of kyber crystals, surrounded by sensors and processors. A holocron is what you could call a force computer. In ancient times, masters in the force would imprint their knowledge and sometimes their personality in a holocron, as a means to pass on their knowledge and even train new jedis."

"And…" Ean said "you think the holocron of Ardos Camarr can help me, because I chose his lightsaber? That's… a bit random, isn't it? What if I had chosen another?"

"But you see, you did not choose another. You chose this one. A few weeks after the holocron of Ardos Camarr resurfaced. That is no coincidence, my boy… that… is fate."

Ean scowled.

"Fate?"

"Yes. Fate. You and Ardos Camarr are fated to meet. Take it from me, I've studied Force beliefs for centuries, and that's how these things go."

"But… what if I don't want to meet him? What if I refuse?"

Khran seemed to smile with his Gen'Dai fanged and lipless mouth, which gave him a feral look.

"Do you want to refuse?"

"No, but…"

"See? My point exactly."

"I don't believe it!" Ean took a step back "That makes… like… no sense at all! I come into your ship, choose a lightsaber at random and you send me off to meet some ages-old master trapped in a holocron? What about my mother? What about me?"

"Well, think of it like this, Ean Van Tassel… In the time you take to meet with Ardos Camarr, I will fix my communications array, and when you get back, you will talk to the Corsair as much as you like. Furthermore, you do have a destiny, Ean. A destiny with the Force, and the truth is, not me, nor your mother can tell you what this destiny is. Only a true master. Only Ardos Camarr can tell you who you really are."

Was Khran insane? Gen'Dai do go nuts after some centuries, but was this the case? What he said was entirely illogical, and yet, it seemed to Ean that Khran really believed that, and that he did think sending Ean off to find a random holocron in the galaxy was a wise move. His mother also told him about a destiny in the Force, and for all Ean read about it, it did seem that the masters of old believed in a lot of stuff that was random to most other people. Could it be that Khran was right? Even if a little?

"Alright…" Ean said. Was he really going to agree to this? How desperate must he be. "Say I do go after this holocron. And I find it… then what?"

"Then, you use…" Khran opened a drawer and picked a hand-held instrument that seemed like a tuning-fork with crystal extremities "This. I call it the holocronic activator. You see, normally a holocron can only be activated with the Force, but this device will emit a frequency that will fool the holocron's electronic sensors into thinking that it should turn itself on, and activate it."

"Really?" Ean took the activator from Khran.

"Well, not really, Really. It's all theoretical, you see, but it should work."

"Okay, what if it doesn't?"

"It will."

"But what if it doesn't?"

"It will."

"But say that…"

"Okay, boy, if it doesn't you take the holocron and come back without activating it. But it will work, you will see."

"Okay, then…" Ean tried to sound as certain as possible. He wasn't entirely effective.

"Now, let's go back to the hangar. You can pick any craft you want from it and I'll upload in your nav computer the coordinates for the holocron's temple. It's in a remote world called Burmir. Oh… you are going to do great things, Ean Van Tassel… I am sure of it!"

Ean let Khran show him the way back to the hangar as he mulled over Khran's utterly flawed plan, and again asked himself why was he doing it? Why was he going along with it? He could find no plausible answer, and still… something did call to him. It could be the despair of trying to find even the vaguest of answers about himself, it could be pure wishful thinking, in fact it probably was… and it could also be the Force. How could he know?

At least, if he did find the holocron of Ardos Camarr, he would be able to ask this of a true master. Someone with answers for him. Even if all Ardos would tell him was "No, Ean, this 'Fate' thing is madness. You are just an arkanian boy. Now go home." Even then, knowing this would be better than knowing nothing. His ignorance has been leading him from shapeless mercenaries to greedy pilots to a not-so-sane Gen'Dai researcher. That had to stop somehow. One way or another, he would know.


	15. Chapter 15

Londo throttled the Pilgrim towards the zig-zag of laser shots that filled his whole horizon as they got closer and closer to the interdictor cruiser. The heat of the space battle had died out, somewhat, and now less than fifty ships fought alongside the cruiser, which kept on turbolasering every ship that got too close to it.

He flexed his hands around the Pilgrim's joysticks and forced himself to unclench his jaws. Going into that fight was dancing in a rain of plasma, only, even with Pilgrim's shield upgrades, they could only withstand so many turbolaser shots.

A number of ships detached from the battle and headed their way, and before he had time to doubt the wisdom of his decision again, the fight was on.

Zeryn destroyed the first ship as it approached, and from there on, Londo ducked, dived and rolled around the other ship's fire. He grunted with the effort, jolted every time he did a displacement roll that sent a spray of sweat over the cockpit. Pilgrim took a few shots, but its shield held. Londo did a reverse-facing backtracking maneuver that positioned them right before an enemy, and as soon as Zeryn shot it, the Pilgrim's tactical screens went from red to blue. They were clear. For now.

"Uh!" Zeryn sighed in relief through the intercom "That was intense."

"Yeah, but don't get too comfortable. That was just the welcoming party. We are diving into the fire now."

"Don't worry, Londo" Pilgrim sounded "I am nearly done recharging the shields."

Londo took a glance at Zeryn's hit ratio for her shots. 80%. That was way more than he ever achieved, or Pilgrim, or anyone he flew with thus far. Zeryn was a methodical shooter. She did not waste energy with aimless shots, and always went straight for the kill. If he could, he would give her a round of applause, because she may have just saved their lives with her precision.

They approached the interdictor, and at 5 kilometers, when they could already see the breach they would go into – even if it was still only a tiny dot – The Pilgrim sounded another one of her alarms.

"Londo, there is an incoming ship from hyperspace."

It was already on screen. A green dot closing in on them.

"What can you scan out of it, Pilgrim?"

"It's… a B-Wing, Londo. The same one that attacked us outside of Dalgoral."

"The crazy jedi woman?" Zeryn said.

"How could she possibly have found us?" He couldn't believe it himself.

"We can worry about that later, Londo." Pilgrim said "Right now, eyes on the battle."

That was the only warning they got before plunging into the thick veil of laser shots. Londo could barely keep up with all threats that popped up in his tactical screen. He rolled left, twisted and looped, and still there were enemies all over them. Pilgrim shook at each shot, and Londo felt ever-growing stabs of panic as its shield bar free-falled towards zero.

He started dropping explosive charges, but their full complement of four drained quickly. He couldn't say which ships belonged to which faction of the battle, because they all fired at him, and when their shields dropped below 10%, he tried to remember, with the back of his head, the only prayer he ever knew in life. They weren't even close to the cruiser's hull breach yet.

Suddenly, most ships veered away from them. They went from being completely surrounded and close to certain death to facing a handful of droid fighters. He could work with a handful of droid fighters.

Zeryn realized that as well, because her shots regained their precision, as Londo dogfighted backwards, rolling and strafing, and sometimes overstressing the thrusters so Zeryn could fire at multiple enemies at once.

Zeryn blew away the last of the nearby ships as their shields hit 5%. Londo kept on twisting and dodging the cruiser's turbolasers, but they were now almost touching its hull.

"What's going on?" Zeryn asked.

She must have not taken a good look at her displays.

"The crazy jedi woman. She's drawing all the heat."

Indeed, the B-Wing navigated through most of the fighters in a clear path towards the ship's hangar. She faced… how many? Twenty, twenty five ships… at once, and still moved about. At one point, she even managed to get one enemy ship to shoot at another.

Londo swallowed dry. He did not want to face that woman in a dogfight again.

"Londo", The Pilgrim said "There's our opening."

In the cockpit glass, The Pilgrim projected an arrow trajectory leading to the hull breach that would be their entry into the cruiser. Londo extended the docking clamps, keyed in all systems to manual, and said.

"Zeryn, hold on."

As they neared the breach in high speed, Londo reversed the ship's heading, punched the afterburners to maximum and directed all power to thrusters. Their shield dropped to 0.

With a rumble, and a deep, loud "thud", they touched the cruiser hull and Londo keyed in the magnetic docking clamps. The ship held on to the cruiser's hull, and as soon as it stopped, Londo clawed them in place with the clamps and released the magnetic stabilizers.

The Pilgrim held on.

"Quickly, Zeryn, go to the cargo room. Pilgrim, you know what to do."

Londo detached himself from his chair as the Pilgrim replied.

"I do, Londo. See you soon."

Londo met Zeryn in the cargo room as she descended from the gunner's turret.

"Zeryn, grab on to those rails."

Zeryn did that.

"Why?" She asked "Aren't we safely docked?"

"Yes, but.."

All lights went off, and softly, they felt their weight shifting and the room tilting until it became almost upside-down. The rails they held on to went from being close to the floor to close to their new ceiling, and Londo and Zeryn found themselves holding on to avoid falling. Every crate in the room shifted and huddled in to the corner that became the new floor.

"…but this". Londo said "When Pilgrim go into standby, it shut down even the artificial gravity. We are now under influence of the cruiser's gravity generators, which don't match our position."

"Right." Zeryn said as she let go and fell on top of the crates. Londo followed soon after.

"Take a space suit." He said as he started picking one up himself.

Zeryn followed his lead as she asked.

"I hope we do this quickly, Londo. I'm not very good with spacesuits. And is it wise for us to stay here? We thought we would be invisible when it was only the droid fleet, but now we have the jedi's B-Wing. She could surely find us."

She could. Maybe Zeryn was right, which would probably mean their deaths at any minute. All their systems were off, they had no shields and couldn't, now, turn on the ship fast enough to avoid getting blown off if anyone decided to shoot at them. Their only hope was that the B-Wing was really heading for the hangar as Londo saw.

"I don't think she was actually coming for us, Zeryn." Londo tried to sound reassuring. "I saw the B-Wing heading for the hangar. Maybe she was attempting to breach through the thick of battle and enter the cruiser through the front door… exactly like we avoided. Anyway, she gave us the best possible distraction. I actually think we would not have made it had she not shown up."

"Yes… I saw how close we cut it, too. How do you think she found us? Again? Or do you think it was just coincidence we came to the same coordinates?"

Londo stared at her to answer.

"That would have been more coincidence than the universe allows, and I don't think she… 'used the Force' too. No, I think there's a much more reasonable explanation for this."

"Which is?"

Londo raised his eyebrows. Could she not see how obvious the answer was?

"She put a tracker on us, of course."

Zeryn closed her eyes and sighed.

"Of course."

"Yeah, unfortunately we can't do much about it right now. We can't turn on the Pilgrim to have her run a surface scan. We'll have to remove that later on."

Londo looked at her through the glass shield of his space suit helmet. Zeryn seemed to wait for him.

"Ready?" He said. Zeryn nodded.

They slowly opened the cargo bay door until the 'swooshing' sound of air escaping had stopped. The door opened right in front of the hull breach, so they only had to step through a small gap in order to move into the cruiser, even if it was a gap that bridged through the emptiness of space.

Within the cruiser, they crawled through burned-out durasteel and melted wire and tubes until they found a corridor, and walked a few steps in it until they reached the force field that prevented air escaping.

"Get ready to run through the force field. It will be down for a few moments. Set your boots to magnetic, because when the force field falls, the rush of air might throw you back."

Londo knelt before the force-field controls and caused a small short-circuit that had the force field flickering, and then going out. They took three slow steps into the ship until the field came back on. Their suit screens showed the external air pressure returning to normal, and as soon as it did, they removed their helmets.

The corridor lights flickered and the computer panels close to them kept going on and off. Other than that, they were in a veritable empire-like corridor. It even had the old empire logo engraved here and there.

They managed to board a 600m-wide ship. A floating city within which they wanted to find a single person. Their plan had worked so far. Now began the hard part, because only then did Londo realize they had no plan at all as to how they would find Ean within an empire battle cruiser.

"Alright…" He said. "now what?"

"Now what?" Zeryn asked, half-smiling. "Now you leave it to me."


	16. Chapter 16

Zeryn stepped as lightly as she could while moving through the cruiser's corridors. When she heard the first sounds of movement, which came as soon as she began wandering, she started moving even slower.

The maintenance shaft she walked through came to a wide corridor where a multitude of droids hurried by. Most of those were maintenance and repair droids, but she also glimpsed a number of security droids running ahead.

All droids. Were there no organic being in this ship? She waited for a few minutes, trying to see at least the hint of an officer or a flesh and bone mechanic, but only the electric buzz and metallic footprints passed her by. At least, they all seemed so intent on their tasks that none of them noticed her.

She wanted to wait for a bit more, but she heard the faint whooshing sound of a lightsaber, and knew then that she had better move back and confer with Londo.

He waited for her exactly where she told him to.

"So?" He asked.

"There are only droids. There's not a single real person in this ship."

Londo frowned.

"That's bad."

"That's disastrous." She said. "My plan was to shapeshift into an officer or at least a technician and from there work my way up the food chain, but I can't shapeshift into a droid!"

"You can't? I thought that…"

"Alright" She raised a hand "I can technically take the shape of a droid if it is morphologically humanoid, but droids communicate through radio, and they have IFF sensors. If I approach a droid and fail to give it the proper greeting, it will draw attention, to say the least."

Londo lowered his eyes and exhaled; as if that was the first time he stopped to think of that. When he stared at Zeryn again, he had some steel in his voice.

"We did not came all the way here just to go back now."

Surely not. Although, how could she get past the thousands and thousands of droids in this ship? Ean was somewhere around, and the Corsair. That was at least two organic people she knew had to be in the cruiser. But where?

Whatever they did, she could not stand still. At that moment, the crazy jedi woman fought her way through waves and waves of combat droids, providing them with yet another perfect distraction. They had to make use of that.

"We did not" She replied. "Do you have communicators?"

"Yeah, sure. Take one." Londo said as he handed her an earpiece.

"I'm going back in there. You stay here. It would be good if you could try to slice into the ship's systems and find me a possible location for Ean."

Londo looked around quickly, like trying to take in anything he could use for a slicing attempt.

"I could do far better with the Pilgrim to help me, but I'll see what I can do. How are you going back there? How are you going to get past the droids?"

Zeryn breathed in, steeling herself for the atrocious pain she knew she was about to experience.

"I'm going to shapeshift into the one person who we know is flesh and bone, and who the droids would likely not shoot on sight."

She closed her eyes and started it, mentally commanding her tendons and muscles to move and overlap, moving fat to some places and out of others, pulling and pushing at her facial features all the while that intense, naked agony caused her to moan, turn her head back and clench her fists. Shapeshifting was painful enough, but shapeshifting into someone specific was a far, far more agonizing experience.

When she finished, though, Londo's unbidden expression of awe almost made it worthwhile.

"By the lower hells… you are…"

"How do I look?" She asked in alternating high and low pitches as her voice was still finishing its shift.

"I say… this is… wow… you are Ean. You are exactly like him! Even down to the blank white eyes."

Zeryn breathed in as the pain still throbbed and pulsed through her body, especially through her face.

"Right. Now it's time for a not-so-clueless Ean to find his way through the ship. As soon as you have a possible location for me, let me know."

Zeryn walked back through the maintenance shaft until the corner that would lead her into the awfully busy corridor. She closed her eyes for a bit.

"Okay. Here goes."

She stepped in to the corridor, right before a maintenance droid. The droid buzzed in front of her, moved its head up and down, and walked around her.

Alright, that seemed to be working.

"Londo" she said, as low as she could "I'm walking around the ship, but I've never been in an interdictor cruiser before. Where do I go?"

She passed droid after droid wandering somewhat aimlessly. Since any direction was as good as another to her, maybe the best course of action would be to move away from the sound of the lightsaber.

"I got a layout of the ship" Londo said "It seems a lot of crew quarters were converted in labs, and the entire central section of the ship was refitted into one big open space…"

"Londo… which direction do I go?"

"I think you should go to the bridge… or the upper decks where a number of quarters were converted into one big apartment. Turn left on the next corridor."

Londo guided her through halls, passageways and one or two spacious atriums, all of which were crowded with droids. At one point she came upon a kind of turbolift hub, where seven different turbolifts converged.

"What now?" She asked.

"You want to take the center turbolift, the larger one with a transparent shaft."

The turbolift, however, was not there, and after typing three generic commands in its console, Zeryn soon found out she had no permission to access it.

"It's not working, Londo"

"Wait. I'm trying as best as I can. This is a military ship, you know? It has some very good security measures. Stay there for a while."

Indeed, it seemed that if she remained still, with Ean's face, the droids would just leave her be. What started to worry her, however, were the growing sounds of lightsaber outlined by the burning sound of plasma shots. The crazy jedi woman wasn't only getting closer, she seem to be coming precisely to that hall.

"Londo, not that I want to pressure you or anything, because, you know, we do have all the time in the world, but the jedi woman is coming here."

"Dazzle her with your charm, Zeryn, and let me work."

Zeryn nearly replied with a string of swear words, but a security droid flew into the hallway, surrounded by sparks and missing an arm. The jedi woman turned a corner and came into a corridor leading to Zeryn's hallway.

Zeryn spoke both lower and more urgently.

"She's here, Londo, she's really here!"

"Wait for it!"

After parrying three blaster shots and sending a group of droids flying back to the corridor with but a gesture, the jedi woman turned to the corridor towards the hallway, and for a bit her eyes locked with Zeryn's.

She seemed to also have fallen in Zeryn's trick, and saw Ean standing there, because she grinned like victory was hers, and started running.

The turbolift arrived behind her. Zeryn took a step into it. She would make it out of there. Even if the jedi woman ran faster than humanly possible, she was just too far to reach Zeryn.

With a jump, a single jump, she crossed the entire distance to the turbolift. Zeryn gasped and stepped back, and before she knew it her pistols were in her hand and she was shooting at the jedi woman. Her lightsaber swooshed before her, sending Zeryn's shots flying through the hallway. She was grinning. Grinning.

She would have stepped into the turbolift if another complement of security droids didn't came from behind her and started shooting, forcing her to turn to them in order to parry their shots.

This was the perfect moment. The jedi woman at her back, Zeryn had a clear, unmissable target before her. She raised her blasters and pulled the trigger.

The turbolift suddenly rose through the shaft, and Zeryn's shots hit the plasteel wall instead of the jedi woman's neck. As Zeryn moved up and through the hallway ceiling, she could still see the raw expression of defeat that the jedi woman shot at her as Zeryn ascended, away from that awful grin. Safe, if only for a little while.


	17. Chapter 17

Zeryn took three deep breaths until she stopped shaking. How close to death she'd been. The jedi woman's expression was pure madness as she approached, and that grin… that grin. Like she took the greatest pleasure in dismembering Zeryn.

Although… Zeryn looked like Ean now. Why would the jedi woman want to kill him? Didn't she want to take him for the reward herself? That's what Zeryn though, but maybe she didn't know the whole story. As the jedi woman jumped at her, her expression was not one of success, it was pure murderous intent. Zeryn had seen that look too many times to mistake it for anything else.

"Are you alright?" Londo said through her earpiece. "Zeryn? Are you fine?"

"I'm good, Londo." Other than the fact she just nearly died.

Zeryn took her hand to her temples and pressed, as she breathed in deeply, composing herself.

"Where are you taking me, Londo? Where is this… wow…"

"What? What's going on now?"

"You… have got to see this, Londo. They have an entire forest in here. With birds, animals, even a lake…"

"You are going through decks 6 through 11. This whole area has been refitted into one big open space."

"Well, it's not just a space… It's… a miniature world."

"I'm taking you to deck 20. It's close to the bridge. I found there's a room in there whose door has been opened from its console in the last hour, and it's the only door that's been opened from the console thus far. Every other door is being opened or closed by radio. So whatever is in there, seems to be the only real person aboard."

"But have you found any evidence of where Ean is?"

"Not yet, Zeryn. I'm still locked out of most systems. I am struggling here."

"Alright. Just get me there."

Only one flesh and bone person in the entire ship? Crewing a ship with droids is something that hasn't been done since… well, since the clone wars, and everyone knows how that turned out for the droids. There is a certain appeal in a fully automated crew – a tireless labor force, no complaints, no Space Crew Union to deal with, no salaries to pay, etc… but there is also great vulnerability. From a tactical perspective, that would not be the best way to crew a ship.

Although, maybe the tactical approach wasn't foremost in the mind of whoever owned this ship. Zeryn had just passed through an enormous ecosphere. A victory-class interdictor cruiser such as this is 600 meters large by 300 meters wide, and the gallery she just crossed through would likely cover all that area. She could even see the four spherical gravity well generators at a distance. Truly, no one would vacate such precious space, better spent on cargo, or hangar, or weapons or power, just to house a personal vacation space. Something else was going on this ship.

Londo guided her through a labyrinth of corridors after arriving in deck 20. This high up, the ship looked like a luxury hotel. The corridors filled with pre-empire decor, the 3D screen displaying nature motifs that amplified the space, the inner bars and lounges with pastel tones. Suddenly Zeryn felt like walking into a resort more than a military-grade space cruiser.

Zeryn approached the door Londo guided her to, and as soon as she stood before the console, Londo said.

"Key in nine, nine, two, four."

The door opened. The circular room within housed what could only be called a personal art collection… if one was collecting lightsabers and glowing crystals. A single person rose from a sofa across the room. Tall – taller than Zeryn at least, red-skinned and yellow-eyes. One of the rarest and oldest species in the galaxy. Gen'Dai, the long-lived, the madness fathers, the unkillables.

The Gen'Dai stared at Zeryn for an instant, and Zeryn could almost feel him reading her. At last, he spoke.

"What are you doing back here? I thought you'd be on your way to Ardos Camarr by now."

"I found his name, Zeryn" Londo said almost together with the Gen'Dai. "Revennus Khran."

She had to fish him for information, starting with open questions that might get him rambling.

"I… am not entire sure about this, Revennus -"

"Doctor Khran, I told you!" Khran snapped.

"Sorry. Doctor Khran." Zeryn put on her best impersonation of Ean with all that commiserating, low self-esteem he exhuded.

"What aren't you sure about, boy? I told you. It's your destiny! You have to go. What is it? Was there a problem with the ship?"

"Kind of, yes." Maybe this ship thing would be a good hook "I don't know where to go, exactly."

"I entered the coordinates as we discussed, Ean. Did you took the A-Wing seven, four, thirty?"

"Seven, four, thirty? Oh, I'm sorry, I took seven, four, thirteen… But… you see… when I was coming back here, I found a lot of security droids dismembered all over. What's going on, doctor Khran?"

"Dismembered indeed…" Khran mumbled. "There's an intruder. A woman with a lightsaber, and she's making short work of my security, which is why, Ean, you have to go."

"But what's gonna happen to you? I can't leave you…" Maybe she could even go out on a limb here. "You are my only link to my mother."

Khran tilted his head to the side a little, and almost seemed surprised at what Zeryn said. When he spoke, his voice had a soft tone that indicated he might have been touched by her made-up concern.

"I can protect myself, Ean. I am far from helpless. It's much more important you find the holocron of Ardos Camarr as we discussed."

"Okay… Can't you just give me the location now? Then I'll take any ship I want from the hangar."

Khran's eyes thinned like he suddenly suspected something, but the next moment he threw a hand up and said.

"Of, fine, though it's hard to miss, really. It's the only thing of note in the Burmir system. Let me give you a data card."

Khran turned to the side, picked up a datacard from an inner pocket of his cape and started keying in some commands. Before he could finish, though, a feminine voice from behind had Zeryn scrambling for her blasters, with growing icy panic.

"Well, well… talk about two birds…" The jedi woman said.

Khran turned to the woman, seeming stunned at her presence. Zeryn shot and the woman's lightsaber once again flowed graciously before she sent Zeryn's shots flying into the walls and perforating a sofa.

"Stop!" Khran exclaimed, horror in every word "Don't shoot in here!"

Zeryn shot another salvo, though, and once more the jedi woman parried all of her attacks with her lightsaber. She raised the other hand at Zeryn, and with a flick of her wrist, Zeryn's blasters flew off her hand.

Zeryn knelt down to retrieve her knives, but halted in mid-gesture as the woman did a clenching gesture in her hand. Zeryn started suffocating.

"Let him go!" Khran yelled. If that was the best he could do to protect himself, he was oh, so deluded.

The jedi woman pointed her lightsaber at Khran.

"Stay! Good doctor Gen'Dai. I'll be with you in a moment."

"Let him go!" He yelled again "I'll give you whatever you want! I'll do anything, but let him go."

Zeryn shifted her trachea within her neck and strengthened it with the densest cartilage she could muster. In spite of the pain, that got the air flowing to her lungs again. She still couldn't move, though.

The jedi woman, looking straight at Khran, said.

"Really? Anything?"

Then she raised her arm and Zeryn was thrown at the ceiling. The impact would have broken her ribs had she not shifted them at the last second to avoid damage. Next, the jedi woman lowered her arm and Zeryn came crashing down on the floor again. Once more she had to ease the impact by softening her bone ligatures. Pain lanced through her whole body. So much pain she could bare concentrate anymore. She would have screamed, had she been able to move. She felt her grip on Ean's physical form loosening up. She was shifting back to her natural form.

"Stop! Stop! Khran screamed." He did seem at the point of tears "You are killing him!"

"Then tell me what I want to know, old Gen'Dai."

"What? What do you want to know?"

Zeryn held on to her tendons and muscles with every fiber of strength she could muster, but agony cried out in every one of her pores. She had to let go. It was just too much, even for her.

"Well… I want to know how you die!" A new voice sounded from behind the door. A male, known voice. Londo Zaani's.

A flurry of blaster fire shot through the jedi woman, and even though she moved her lightsaber behind her and deflected most of the shots, one of them hit her from behind and she went down, thrown into the room.

Londo stepped in, a repeating blaster in his hands. Screaming like a mad man.

"Die, woman! Die, die, DIE!"

His own voice was drowned in the sound of blaster fire. Khran's screams could also be heard emerging amidst the chaos.

"No! My sabers! No! Stop!"

The jedi woman got up and swirled her lightsaber creating a wall of protection before her and Khran. Londo kept firing, and his shots kept spilling all over the room, breaking glass, sofas, drawers, crystals, and, of course, lightsabers.

Zeryn tried to get up, but her bone ligatures were still fragile, so she only fell down again. Londo picked her up with one arm and retreated out of the room, keeping the jedi woman in check with his unrelenting attack.

As soon as they passed room's door, it closed before them. Londo shot the controlling panel, dropped the repeating blaster and picked Zeryn up with both arms.

"I know it's hard, Zeryn, but we have to get the hell out of here before they leave this room."

Zeryn opened her mouth to answer, but instead only managed to moan. Londo may have understood what she meant, because he started half-carrying, half-dragging her through the interdictor, into the turbolift, and back to the questionable safety of the Pilgrim.


	18. Chapter 18

Narla rushed to the door as soon as the barrage of blaster shots sopped, only to find it slamming shut in front of her. The door clicked as it locked from the outside, trapping her within the room with Khran.

"M… m… my room…" Khran blabbered like an idiot "my lightsabers". He still stood in the middle of the room, turning around and staring at the debris. He didn't move an inch as Londo showered blaster over the room, but then, he was a Gen'Dai wearing body armor. No way those shots could do anything much to him.

"Oh, stop whining!" Narla said "I deflected his shots so that none would hit the lightsabers. I think only two were damaged, and only because his blaster was spraying fire all over and I couldn't deflect them all."

Khran went deadly silent as Narla spoke. He stared at her and said as if containing his ire.

"Only two? ONLY two? These are priceless. Each one is a work of art! They have history… they have spirit! Losing even one is a tragedy."

Yes, Narla had to agree with him. That room, those lightsabers, they were as priceless a treasure as Narla ever saw one. She would dismember Londo Zaani just for firing a single shot in that room. Well, add that to her to-do list. Right after gouging the yes out of that clawdite that passed for Ean.

Narla turned to Khran after taking in the damage to the room and they both stared at each other. Khran straightened his back.

"So…" he said "you are the one who destroyed half my fleet, laid waste to my security droids and opened up holes in my decks with your lightsaber."

Narla put a hand on her hip and tilted her head sideways.

"Hi. I am Narla destruction-waste-lightsaber Hal. And you… you are Doctor Revennus Khran."

Khran's left forehead went up, which was Gen'Dai gesture for raising an eyebrow.

"Well, it's good to be appreciated. Now what manner of business justifies all that wanton violence and random destruction?"

"Oh…" Narla said as she approached "did I not just say destruction in my middle name? There's no justification needed. Oh, no. I did it just for fun, you know… and because you made it so damn difficult for me to get here and threaten you."

"You were going to kill that arkanian. Was it fun for you?"

Narla stopped. Could it be that Khran did not know it?

"Arkanian?" She said "Oh, that was no arkanian. Did you not see, as I choked him and thrust him up and down, and it started to shift?" He did not. She would enjoy telling him that "Oh… choke me with acid, you didn't see it! That was a clawdite. As I smashed it on the floor, it reverted part of its face back to its original form. My dear, dear good doctor… you were being duped all along!"

Khran's face twisted and he seemed to bite his tongue with his fangs, which, of course, he didn't, because otherwise his tongue would have fallen off, but it did give him the expression of someone who just found out he'd been suckered. Ah, that was priceless.

"Now… 'doctor' Khran… about our business."

"I have no business with you, you mad woman."

Gods and demons how could he be so clueless. Did he not know he was talking to a trained jedi wielding a lightsaber?

"We do, if I say we do, now…"

Narla extended a hand. Khran jumped backwards, half-expecting an attack, but before he could do anything else, Narla felt the flow of Force around him and pinned him down, paralyzing him. With the gesture of a finger, the forced him to drop to one of the sofas not entirely demolished.

"Sit!" She said as Khran crumbled.

She slowly walked towards him.

"Now listen carefully, old man. You will tell me where I can find the holocron of Ardos Camarr."

Khran looked a ways away.

"The what?"

"Oh, come now. Please… please do it the hard way. I am sooo gonna enjoy extracting this information out of you."

Not a flinch. Not a blink. She threatened him as clearly as possible, and he's just seen what she can do, and yet he just stood there, unmoved.

"I know you have it. Or you know of its location. As soon as the Galdran expedition found the holocron, news of a recently discovered jedi artifact flooded the darknet. I followed every lead, you know. I have to give it to you, you do know how to cover your tracks. The Galdran expedition was killed, wasn't it? All of it. That would have been the end of it, but I followed the money and found out, after going through three layers of shell companies, that you were the expedition's sponsor. I didn't know how to find you, though, and wouldn't have, if you hadn't placed the contract that the Gorlen clan picked up. I didn't even know what contract that was, only that it would lead me to you, so I followed the Gorlen clan, followed its last survivor, the clawdite Zeryn Dassul, until I came… to you."

Khran even tried to sound baffled or surprised at what Narla was saying, but the recognition was too blatant in his eyes, his whole face. By the end, he couldn't even keep trying to hide that he knew of it.

"So I ask again… my good doctor Khran, where is the holocron of Ardos Camarr, and I ask you, please, please don't tell me. Because…" She ignited her lightsaber "I so want to do what comes next."

Something else dawned on Khran's face. It wasn't reluctance, or even defiance, even though it could be mistaken for that. No… Narla knew that expression too well to recognize it even on a Gen'Dai: fear. Panic. Narla smiled.

"You… you are insane woman. Do you know? You are insane!"

Narla tried to keep from chuckling but it was just too much for her. Before she knew it, she was laughing so hard she could barely keep from dismembering herself with her lightsaber.

"Oh… oh my… that is so… oh… oh, Khran… you are a piece of work, you know… 'you are insane woman!', oh… oh my… I'm sorry… I kind of lost it over there a little, but really, really, you should do a reality check. Come on… last chance. Just for the laughs. Where is it?"

Khran raised his chin and half-closed his eyes. Now _that_ was a defiant expression.

Narla extended a hand and began to force-choke him just as a means to start the real conversation, but the strangest thing happened. Instead of turning blue or taking his hands to his neck, or trying to speak and failing, Khran flickered. His whole body phased in and out of focus. As if he weren't really there, as if he was…

"A hologram!" Narla cried, taking a step back.

It was Khran's turn to smile now, as his still flickering image got up. The more it did, the more Narla could see it. There was a droid underneath his image, with its outer chassis covered in crystals… holo-projecting crystals. Khran wasn't really there, this was a telepresence holodroid.

"Yes, my fallen force-user. A hologram. You can threaten me all you want, and throw your schizophrenic tantrums as much as you like. Nothing you do can touch me, for I am safe and sound, many, many light years away."

Narla clenched her hands and felt the flow of Force around her burning with her rage. She knew her eyes glowed red right then. Nothing she did would touch him? We would see about that.

Narla extended a hand towards the wall, and one of the lightsabers flew to her hand.

Now Khran flinched at _that_.

She could crush it. She could vaporize it or rip it apart with the force. It was such a defenseless thing, that lightsaber. But still… there was history in it. This particular saber was a very old style. Its hilt marred by its many battles, and its switch worn from overuse, and the vibration. Narla could sense it, there really was a spirit to this lightsaber, a soul, so to speak, and for once, since many, many years, she found herself unable to hurt it. She knew it would be wrong.

So… she did have her limits after all.

Narla slowly set the lightsaber in a nearby couch and turned to Khran again. His relief was palpable, but his face seemed a bit puzzled.

She couldn't reach him by threatening his precious lightsabers, well then, perhaps she could use this as another opportunity to test the limits of the Force.

She stared at the Gen'Dai's flickering face, and felt for the person beyond the image. She searched for the one speaking to her through the hologram, from light-years away. She silenced herself and distanced herself from everything else except Revennus Khran, and let her feelings run throughout the vastness of space. Looking for him. Connecting to him. Revennus Khran. Where was he? She reached out, and it seemed like her reach was extending infinitely, further than it's ever went before. Far, far, far… so far she felt it stretch to its limit, and still it went on. Nothing else in the universe but the two of them.

She touched him. A tiny thing, less than the shadow of a grain of dust, unfathomably far, and still she touched him.

Narla raised the widest smile she's had in quite some time.

"I will teach you, Revennus Khran, never again to underestimate the power of the Force."

She choked him, and this time, his eyes bulged, his throat compressed, his hands went for his neck, trying to remove whatever invisible power suffocated him.

"Yes." She said "Yes! You Gen'Dai have no bones, no heart, no lungs, no central brain, but you still need air, don't you? I will choke you until you hibernate, and then I'll incinerate you from within, and no amount of lightyears can shield you."

Khran's hands flayed around, and suddenly, his whole image went off. The tiny connection Narla had with him flickered and died out as his image disappeared, and her hand, in a choking gesture, clenched into a fist with which she slammed the closest furniture – a table – as she cried out in rage.


	19. Chapter 19

Khran shook his hands as he choked until the found the holo-presence switch and turned it off. Just as it came, Narla's force-choke faded and went away, allowing him to gasp for breath a good minute while he recomposed himself.

How could he have known that woman would be able to affect him through a holographic projection? Never, in all of his studies of force, had he known of anything like that. After Exar Kun and Nomi Sunrider, it's been millennia since a force-user could affect people through their images.

Twice in a day. He's been taken advantage of twice in a day. Now, with the hopelessly insane Narla Hal, and before, with the clawdite.

Khran switched off his holo-presence device and moved his throne towards a control panel in his safe room. Was it still safe, though? He had designed it so that no known scanner would be able to find him in there, but Narla had the Force on her side. She could certainly find him if she wanted to. The only thing protecting him right then was the possibility that she actually believed he was light-years away, and not just three decks below.

"Camera logs" he croaked in his decayed, hoarse voice. The logs immediately showed up in his holodisplay and he soon found the timestamp he looked for: the moment Narla threw Ean around with the force. Indeed, just as she told him, as "Ean" fell to the floor, parts of his body started to shift, and from his skin and clothing a scaly hide appeared. The whole left side of his face changed into that of a reptilian species with pronounced cheekbones. A clawdite indeed.

Yep. He'd been made a fool of twice in one day. That had to be some sort of record. Even for him.

Suddenly, some of the files in the camera log listing changed their last-access time. That had to be Narla Hal. Alone in his lightsaber museum, she was probably slicing her way through the room files and looking in the logs for anything that might be useful.

Would she find it? What had Khran told the fake Ean? Oh, yes… he told him about the Burmir system, and very soon Narla would find out as well. The day just got worse and worse.

What could he do now? He had just sent the true Ean into what could be a deathtrap. He went to retrieve the one thing Narla wanted, and if she got to him before he left the planet, Khran pretty much doubted Ean would survive the encounter. How could he help him, though? His interdictor hadn't yet recovered from the Watcher's attack, and even if it had, the most Khran could do with it was blow away whoever came out of the temple.

Then, there was the matter of the Corsair. Khran couldn't keep this from her anyway, she had to know of this development, as unpleasant as this conversation would be. So Khran inhaled deeply, like trying to draw in patience, and dialed the Corsair.

He cleared his throat for a while until his call was answered and the Corsair's contralto voice resounded through the room.

"Doctor Khran. You are late. Have there been setbacks?"

Always the perceptive old crone, that one.

"Setbacks indeed, Corsair. I am due for a status update and things… well… they did not go according to plan."

"Indeed doctor Khran, that is no news. Things have not been going according to plan ever since my son was rescued. What happened this time?"

"The Watcher attacked the Black Dawn with a fleet of droid fighters, right when Ean came out of hyperspace with those rescuers of his, the pilot and the mercenary. The battle got them a little wary of approaching my ship, so they hypersped away, but not before your son exited their ship and came to me. We talked. I sent him on his way to Burmir, as we had agreed."

"Did he ask about me?"

"Oh, quite a bit, but I told him I could not contact you because the attack had damaged my communications array."

"He believed you?"

"He had no reason not to. I still don't know why you wouldn't talk to him directly, though."

"That would have been… difficult. You are a much better liar than I am."

"You flatter me."

"Does he have the force chip, doctor?"

Khran fiddled with the box beside his arm rest. His greatest achievement, his most prized prototype. No… he would not have handed it like that.

"No, Corsair. I will hand the force-chip to your son only after… well, after his destiny is fulfilled. That way, if the Watcher gets to him first, still he will have lost. That's not the end of the story, though."

"Continue." The Corsair said. Always the pragmatic one.

"The mercenary who rescued your… 'son'… she's a clawdite, and entered my ship masquerading as Ean. She managed to extract the information of your son's destination."

"Has she now? Quite resourceful, this Zeryn Dassul, wouldn't you say?"

Khran had to check his temper. The Corsair was just teasing him, he knew. Still, he'd rather not talk about the clawdite just now.

"Another player revealed itself, Corsair, the slicer who had been trailing our contracts and querying my companies ever since the holocron surfaced. You will not believe this, but it's a force-user. A woman who calls herself Narla Hal."

"Stand by." The Corsair said, and Khran knew by the abrupt silence that she was working her holonet magic, getting every possible information on Narla Hal in record time. He waited, and looked at his ship's reports and logs as the Corsair remained silent.

This was taking her more time than usual. Much more. At least, it did give Khran the time to check the status of the Black Dawn and get a sense of the chaos that Narla had spread all over his ship. It was huge. The Black Dawn would need a few months, and several hundred thousand credits, to fully recover from Narla's incursion.

"Narla Hal" The Corsair spoke abruptly "is not her original name."

"Well, no… I assumed it wasn't. I could have told you that, my dear."

"Her original name is Nara Iona Hain."

"Oh." Khran should have known better than to assume there was something The Corsair couldn't find out.

"She was a youngling from the jedi temple, before its destruction at the rise of the Empire."

Khran whistled.

"You don't say!"

"I do say. And more. She survived the purge and was saved, at the age of ten, along with a small group of younglings, by jedi knight Durok Vior. He was an archivist, and records show he was found and murdered by Vader's inquisitors three years after that. Her path has been murky since then. She shows up on a number of worlds, and there's an old imperial report that says a young woman by her description was seen on Dantooine. An inquisitor was dispatched to investigate, but came back empty-handed. After this, a woman matching her description and abilities show up sparsely all over the galaxy, with different names, taking on small-time contracts. A few years later she seems to have started taking solo mercenary jobs, and as far as contracts go, she took on her first assassination job at the age of twenty five. This was four years before the battle of Yavin."

"So… our insane force-user is, in fact, a fallen jedi! Oh, this is textbook tragic…"

Suddenly, the whole picture came clear for Khran. Narla Hal lived to see her little friends murdered in cold blood, she was pursued throughout all her teen years, and grew up a callous, cynic world-weary woman, who would just be another bitter soldier of fortune, if not for the fact she has the Force on her side. So she fell. Of course she did. Living on the run, dealing with the scum of the galaxy, with no one to turn to, and not able to form any attachment, or else, they would be used against her… Suddenly her tale became all too… prosaic.

"Textbook or not, she's after my son, doctor Khran."

"Indeed, but how do we stop her?"

The Corsair took some time to answer, which, given who she was, meant the situation was far more complex than Khran might imagine.

"We do not stop her". She said at last.

"We… don't?"

"We cannot stop her. She has the one element that we can't move against right now. The Force. Instead, we use her for our purposes."

Khran rasped his throat as he sighed.

"How do we do that?"

"You will go to Burmir. If she retrieves the Holocron, then that probably means my son is dead, and we will have to start over, but the death of my son might actually steer the Watcher away from us. However, if my son lives, then it will be because he still has the holocron, and we use her to go after him. Not to kill him, but to watch over him, because you will tell her everything."

"Everything, Corsair?"

"Well… not every single thing, but at least, let her in our agreed first layer of secrecy."

Khran wasn't at all convinced by the Corsair's plan.

"I see your point, Corsair, but… she is insane. I mean she is a bona-fide wacko. She cannot be trusted, much less manipulated. She is fundamentally, utterly unpredictable."

"Doctor Khran, what is it the Watcher fears the most?"

Khran sighed. Of course he knew the answer.

"The Force."

"And, behold, for a force-user came our way in our hour of need. That is not just coincidence, doctor Khran. That is…"

"Fate". He finished her sentence dryly.

She did have a point. Much as Khran would love to vaporize that woman after she participated in the destruction of two of his lightsabers, not to mention what she did to the Black Dawn… He just might need her. Force-users were not falling from trees nowadays, and this was the first time, for many years, that he met one he might actually work alongside with, which in this case means: that he might manipulate. Even if she was a psychopathic, schizophrenic, fallen jedi.

For better or worse, Narla was the best he had. A pity she had already left the Black Dawn, but Khran could go after her.


	20. Chapter 20

Londo half carried, half dragged a semi-conscious Zeryn into the Pilgrim's cargo room, and as soon as he closed the hatch door behind him, said.

"Pilgrim, start up!"

The internal lights were the first thing to come back on, followed by the artificial gravity, and the tilted cargo area slowly turned and straightened as the Last Pilgrim's gravity returned to normal, in Londo's eyes.

"Pilgrim, get the medical bay ready." He said as he walked through the internal turbolift to the common room, and from there to the room he refitted into a medical support station. There was nothing like a bacta-tank in there, but enough equipment to treat all but the most severe wounds.

All the while, Londo tried to avoid looking at Zeryn's face. He knew, with his analytical mind, that she was a clawdite, and therefore, her true form was much different from a human's, but to actually see Ean's face half merged into those reptilian features was quite disturbing. To watch her scaly skin merging with Ean's clothes were downright eerie. Londo laid Zeryn in the medical pad and closed the glass door before her, as the mechanical arms of the automated medical bay scanned her and ran their treatment.

He was glad to go back into the Pilgrim's cockpit. A place he knew, a place of safety where he was king.

"Where are we going now, Londo?" The Pilgrim sounded.

"Set a course for the Burmir system, Pilgrim, but don't engage yet."

Pilgrim's reply was close to outraged.

"I would think not, unless we want to become target practice for about thirteen turbolasers pointing our way."

Yes. Those turbolasers. The Pilgrim's position coupled to the hull of the Black Dawn guaranteed that the cruiser's turrets had no angle to shoot at her, but as soon as they got ten meters away from the ship, those lasers would all fire, and as good as Londo was, he couldn't get away from that much firepower.

This time there was no crazy jedi woman to distract the turbolasers. He needed to produce a distraction of his own.

"Pilgrim, heat up the engines. Be ready to go. I'll be right back".

"Oh, take your time, Londo. It seems the cruiser isn't going anywhere, but just so you know, I was ready five minutes ago."

Londo ran as fast as he could back towards the cargo room.

"By the way, Pilgrim. Run another surface scan. There's a tracker attached to your hull."

The cargo room had all crates stacked to one corner, after the Pilgrim stayed without gravity for a while. Londo had to remove several of them from atop one another until he found the one he wanted. Crate 17-A. One of his spare generators.

If that wouldn't confuse the turbolasers tracking system, nothing else would.

Longo opened up the crate, powered up the generator, and closed it again. He dragged the crate to the airlock, the same one Ean used to escape his ship, and left it there, ready to be jettisoned out.

"How are we looking, Pilgrim?" Londo asked as he sat once again on the pilot's chair.

"Oh, we are looking good. You are all sweaty and smelly, I'm looking at such amazing turbolasers pointing at us, our engines are running and shields are at maximum. If that's any help against a cruiser."

"Alright, Pilgrim, on my command you will open airlock A, and two seconds after veer away from the cruiser and thrust ahead at full power."

"Very well, Londo."

Londo clenched his hands around the ship's command flight stick.

"Are you ready?"

"I'm sorry, was that the command?"

"Ha ha, Pilgrim. Very well, three, two, one… Now!"

All stars shifted down as the Pilgrim performed the escape maneuver and thrust out of the cruiser. The crate with the generator flew away from them, and the cruiser's tractor beam locked it in place while its turbolasers destroyed it in less than three seconds.

They all shot at the same time, as Londo expected. The recharge time for a turbolaser of that caliber is at least five seconds, and in this time the Pilgrim sped away and away from the cruiser, while shooting two missiles into the cruiser's tractor beams.

When the turbolasers shot again, they were already a good way away.

Londo maneuvered the Pilgrim and they, together, danced around a tunnel of plasma shots that passed them by. It was like the cruiser was paving the way for their escape with a yellow-hot road, that twisted around and chased them.

The Pilgrim juddered, hit by a turbolaser, and its shields dropped to sixty-two. Londo and the ship twirled and spinned and kept moving away. A second shot hit them, and their shields went to twenty-four percent. The cruiser was now a small dot in their tactical display. Londo only had to dodge for a few more seconds and hyperspeed would kick in. The converging shots followed him wherever he maneuvered, but like most droid-controlled ships, it only responded to his movements. It seemed to try to predict where Londo would veer to, but whenever he changed the evasion strategy, the turbolaser shots would miss them completely.

A third shot hit the Pilgrim.

"Shields are down, Londo."

Londo tried to reply that he knew it, but with his teeth clenched, he only managed to grunt. One more hit and they would be gone. The shots kept coming after them, the Pilgrim kept accelerating, and Londo rolled and turned dodging the cruiser's attacks. His grunt grew into a groan of effort, into a scream. The interdiction field was coming to an end, but the cruiser was clearly learning with his maneuvers.

"Burn everything, Pilgrim. Full throttle ahead."

The shots swirled around them and Londo's eyes rolled as the ship's acceleration threatened to knock him down. The interdiction field was almost gone. Two shots scraped the ship's hull…. And they were clear.

The Pilgrim itself engaged FTL and normal space stretched away from them as stars became elongated drops of light and the blue hyperspace tunnel engulfed them.

Londo thrust his hands up.

"Yah! We're out!"

"Congratulations, Londo" Even the Pilgrim sounded genuinely pleased "I must say, I did think we would have died in there."

"Trust your papa, Pilgrim. I'll always get you safe!"

"I see that now, Londo. It was an excellent escape. Well done."

Londo wiped his forehead on his sleeve and got up.

"Oh… I am going to change these clothes. Then I guess I'll take some of that dragonfire drink."

"Suit yourself, Londo. Our trip will take about four days to Burmir, and we will likely have to stop somewhere along the way to remove that tracker."

"Of course. All in due time."

He did it. He really did it. He faced an interdictor cruiser with the Pilgrim and wits alone, and came out of it victorious. They went into the belly of the beast, and out, and lived to tell the tale. Oh… the feeling of plasma turbolaser burning past their shields as they maneuvered against all odds! That was one escape to be proud of. Even more daring than when he stole the Pilgrim. Londo laughed. He wanted to tell the world about it.

Of course, he couldn't. At best, he could tell Zeryn, so he went to the medbay and stared at her body as the Pilgrim treated her.

"She will survive, Londo" The Pilgrim said "but won't recover soon. She needs rest and quiet. Two things that never go along with a clawdite."

Londo chuckled, and raised a smile as he also remember rescuing her from the crazy jedi. Not for the first time, and probably not for the last, he asked himself why had he done it. Why did he drop everything he was doing and went after Zeryn when he realized the jedi woman was closing in on her. He knew that trying to save Zeryn was likely a suicide mission, but still, when he saw the danger Zeryn would be in, he didn't doubt, didn't think twice. He just started running and picked up the first repeating blaster he found on the way.

Why do it? Why had he risked his life to save this woman? Could he be… interested in her? No… she was a clawdite. Even if she could look like a woman, any woman for that matter, Londo knew they would never be compatible. There was just no romantic interest there. So why?

Maybe the answer was, quite literally, in front of him. Pilgrim. Londo also had no reason to free her from The Corporation, other than the fact that he knew what they were doing was wrong, and that Pilgrim deserved to be treated as what she was: an autonomous individual. He lost everything: career, savings, friends, even the contact with his family, in order to save the Pilgrim. In order to do what he knew was right.

That's why he also didn't deliver Ean to the Watcher when they were in Dalgoral. Most likely, that's why he went back for Zeryn: because leaving her behind would be wrong. She trusted him, she counted on him, and failing to help her would be nothing short of betrayal. Londo would not have it.

Even as he watched her hurt body treated by Pilgrim, he leaned back and raised a smile unlike any other he ever did before, because right then he looked at himself, and for the first time, he found himself to be an honorable person.

Maybe that's who he was, after all.


	21. Chapter 21

Zeryn took a sip at the Pilgrim's coffee from the bar. The bittersweet warmth went down her throat like liquid gold, carrying an easing and comfort she desperately needed to feel right then.

The turbolift to the cargo room came up and Londo stepped into the common room. One glance at Zeryn and he drew his gun at her.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Zeryn raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously, Londo? It's me, Zeryn."

Londo waited a bit until he dropped his gun.

"Who else could it be? Is there someone else in here with you?"

Londo sighed.

"Right… of course… it's just that… why did you shift into this appearance?"

Zeryn must really have been unrecognizable to him. Her blond curly hair went down her elbows like a sunny cascade, and her aquiline face would seem a bit intimidating at first. If Londo thought for a second about it, though, he would surely have known it was her. They were, after all, in hyperspace, and no one could have come aboard the ship since they stopped to remove the tracker.

"I need the practice." Zeryn answered.

"What you need is rest. Did you not hear the Pilgrim's recommendations?"

Zeryn turned to her coffee once again.

"I couldn't sit still in that bed for another minute. And besides, we clawdites have to shift now and then, otherwise we start to lose our ability to change shape."

Londo sat beside her at the bar.

"But you are still healing. It must hurt to move around."

Zeryn half-smiled as she answered.

"Oh, it hurts. It does hurt a lot. I feel my bones pricking at me from the inside like they were poking melting pins trough my nerves. It's agonizing."

"Really? You don't seem at all in agony."

Zeryn turned to face him.

"I'm not sure you are aware of this, but shapeshifting is a very painful experience for us, clawdites. We have to command our muscles, nerves, tendons and cartilages to move about, and they complain… all the way. Shifting is always painful, Londo. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but it always is. Much of our training on shapeshifting has to do with learning to endure pain, and I learned to endure massive amounts of it. I savor it. I use the discomfort to keep alert and aware. So I accept the pain, I make it mine. It's actually quite soothing after a time, there is a therapeutic aspect in taking in this much pain. So, don't be fooled if I speak calmly about his. I am in pain. I feel it entirely. I'm only more used to it than most."

Londo leaned back.

"Alright, then… very well. Anyway, you might want to change back to the previous face you were using, though."

Zeryn spoke as ironic as she could.

"You mean control manager Dryanna Varn? Why? Do you miss her slightly crooked nose?"

That seemed to have made Londo more surprised than she expected, because he straightened in his chair and change his voice to a deeper tone.

"Oh, no, no… it's just that… It might be good for you to be wearing a familiar face when we find Ean."

"Oh, right."

One of those awkward moments of silence followed, where nobody really knows what to say even though they all want to say something. At least, it seemed that way to Zeryn, because when they did speak again, they did it at the same time.

"I want to ask you something." Zeryn said.

"I have something to tell you." Londo said.

Zeryn motioned for Londo to go on, but he was too quick to reply.

"No, please, you go first."

"Alright." She sipped the last of the coffee. "Why did you saved me, Londo? In the cruiser?"

Londo raised an eyebrow like the answer was over-obvious.

"What, you think I should have left you there?"

"I think you could have, yes."

"And go away?"

"Well, what did you have to lose? You had an out. You could leave the cruiser and never go back."

Londo stared at Zeryn for a while before replying.

"I'm not sure I could. The Corsair has proven to be very, very capable, and I do think she could find me wherever I went. But… I don't know, Zeryn, it wasn't an analytical decision, you know? I didn't make a list of pros and cons and weighted them and came to the conclusion that the best course of action would be to save you. I just… I can't explain it. I would just not leave you behind. Especially not to that insane jedi."

Zeryn said with a half-smile.

"Well, you did save my life, and that is something I won't soon forget."

Londo nodded.

"Right. Good. I appreciate you telling me this, because, well, I've got something not so good to tell you."

Londo inhaled deeply. When he seemed about to start talking, he instead got up, walked to the bar and served himself a generous portion of some distilled drink smelling of mint and grapes. Only after the first gulp did he sit down again and spat out.

"I did not meet Ean by chance."

Zeryn frowned.

"What?"

"When Ean came to me in Nar-Shaddaa's spaceport, that was no chance encounter. I was hired to be there and wait for him."

Zeryn crossed her arms and raised her chin. She was not going to like this at all. Londo went on.

"I was hired by an individual whose alias is The Watcher. As far as I know, he is some sort of multibillionaire who has a sizable droid army at his disposal. The droids that were after Ean are his. He hired me to be in dock twenty-one and wait for an arkanian boy who passed by. I was to take him wherever he wanted to go, and then inform the Watcher of our location so he could come retrieve him. I think I was his plan B. If his army failed to capture Ean, he had me waiting for him."

Zeryn suddenly got up and paced the room, fighting the urge to punch Londo in the face, or to shoot him in the head. He worked for the same people who experimented on Ean all this time, and only now he told her this? She trusted him. She fought by his side, and all the while he was colluding with the enemy.

Only, not really… he was coming clean, after all. Zeryn slowed her pace and turned at him. She refrained from speaking the first thing that came to her mind, just to see how the story would unfold.

"What did he offer you…" She asked as slowly as possible, "That can topple the Corsair's offer of ten million?"

"My freedom. Mine and Pilgrim's"

Zeryn sat down again.

"Explain."

Londo looked up for a while, took another gulp before going on.

"I was a senior starship designer working on a top secret project for the CorpSec near Duroon. We were trying to create a starship capable of faster hyperspace calculations, and for that, the project was trying to harness the ingenuity of a free-thinking sentience into this process. The Pilgrim was their seventh prototype. One day I found out that she was more than just an emulation of intelligence; she was, in fact, an individual. The lead designers were meddling with artificial sentience. The Pilgrim endured many tests and experiments, and one day, when I was talking to her, she begged me to free her. She was really afraid you see… So… after a little planning, I did just that. And we have been on the run from the CorpSec ever since."

Zeryn pressed against her temples, once again controlling herself, because otherwise she would beat the crap out of Londo. Why was she that mad at him anyway? He was a vulnerable guy, with everything to lose, who was manipulated into this game, and in spite of that he chose to trust her with this secret. Yet, Zeryn could not shake the rage away. He lied to her. To her. She is the queen of lies, and yet she bought into his good-guy act all the way through. She was mad at herself, for sure, for opening up to him.

"I am telling you this because…"

"I know why you are telling me this!" She snapped. She also lied. She had no idea why he chose to tell her this right then, when he could easily have kept this all secret, but if he gave her one more "for the right thing" speech, she would lose whatever control she had right then.

She got up slowly, placed her hands on the table and stared at him for the longest time. He met her gaze unflinching.

"Alright, Londo. It's good that you saved my life. Really good. That's what's keeping you alive right now. Here's what we are going to do. We finish this job, we go our separate ways, and we never see each other again. Understood?"

Londo's expression changed, quickly, from sorry to annoyed to hard outrage. What did he expect after all? That Zeryn would be so touched by his sad story that she would hug him and tuck him to bed saying "it's all right?" It's not alright. Her one companion in this contract was a guy who secretly worked for the enemy and kept this from her for many, many days. There was no way she would forget this, much less forgive.

He was smart. That he was. He decided to tell her this after she professed owing her life to him. The manipulative bastard. Zeryn even had to admire him for that, but from now on, she would sleep with a blaster in her hand, safety off, set to kill.


	22. Chapter 22

Ean stepped out of the A-Wing pilot cockpit as slowly as he could, because he couldn't get his eyes from the temple before him. From above, it seemed like just another outcropping of trees, only slightly taller than the other ones of the jungle. As he landed on the exact coordinates Khran gave him, though, that outcropping proved to be a jumble of ivies and bindweeds that grew alongside a temple even higher than the tallest trees around. In a world where the average thee measured fifty meters, that was saying something.

On the clearing just before the temple entrance, crates, mining and shield equipment and speeders lay scattered around, a reminder of the archeological expedition that rediscovered it only weeks ago. Luckily for Ean, the expeditioners must have found a way to open the temple entrance, because a number of metal beams and pistons still kept it open.

With a flashlight from the A-Wing, he squeezed through the temple door into an inner chamber so huge the flashlight just couldn't cover it all. It seemed the whole of the temple was this one, big chamber. Or not, because in the back a wall seemed to split the interior space in two, so that first chamber would take about a little more than half the whole temple.

Something changed in the quality of the air as he entered. It became suddenly dry and devoid of smell. Almost like there was nothing living in the chamber, not even bacteria.

Ean swept the chamber with his flashlight, trying to gauge the whole width of it, and nearly fell as he descended a small flight of stairs. The chamber had been built a little below ground level.

Bodies littered the whole of the floor. It would be impossible to enter further into the chamber without stepping in them. Mostly, they were bones, but here and there, a bit more preserved bodies lay about. Their belongings, still covering their carcasses, somehow gave hints as to how long they'd been there. By Ean's feet was a blaster of a manufacturer who went bankrupt a hundred years ago. Over there, an electrostaff of a style not used in over 500 years. That bundle of clothes sported an insignia from a mining company that's not been around for over a millennia.

Entering a mysterious ruin littered with bodies alone should have been warning enough for Ean to step back. Something surely killed all those people, what's to say it wouldn't kill him as well? He should stop. He should go back and reevaluate this whole thing. If he did, though, he could never know about Ardos Camarr, and about himself. He could die in there. Everything pointed to that ending, anyway, but Ean would not back out. Not when he was so, so close to answers.

Step by step, trying to disturb the bodies as little as possible, he moved on, towards the door at the wall on the other side of the chamber: a metal door almost as high as the chamber itself, filled with inscriptions.

At first, Ean though the door would be completely inscribed with a single message, but as he came closer, it became clear that the inscriptions were being repeated on several languages, most of which he knew nothing about. One of them, though, was in a very old version of galactic basic. This was like a translation stone, which some civilizations created, but, in this case, it was a translation door.

The inscription read:

"Move away now from the hall of nightmares, for only those who are one with the Way may pass."

Maybe he mistranslated "way"? Perhaps it would be an ancient way to refer to "the Force"? In any event, the door itself was ajar. Wide enough that Ean could pass by with little effort.

The hall beyond the door was considerably smaller. Just an even ground, no bodies, a number of electronic equipment lying around, some of which appeared to be functioning, a pillar at the center, and atop it, the holocron of Ardos Camarr. Exactly like the one Khran showed him.

Ean rushed towards the pedestal and by the time he realized it might not be a good thing to just grab the holocron, he was more than halfway through with his hand outstretched. He had to get a grip on himself. Of course, he wanted answers, but this was a very delicate situation, which called for utmost prudency, not for blindly picking ancient artifacts protected by a so-called hall of nightmares.

The holocron would fit his hand, and even though it's been there for millennia, it still glowed. Ean touched it, very lightly, but nothing happened. Khran said only the force could activate a holocron, so maybe Ean could activate it himself, without needing Khran's holocronic activator.

He stepped back, closed his eyes and imagined the holocron. He tried sensing it, feeling it, ascertaining its presence with a new sense, one born out of the Force. Nothing happened. Ean opened his eyes just a little bit, and imagined a flow of energy passing through him and into the holocron. He imagined this flow getting stronger and stronger, and the holocron lighting up, floating by itself as it opened.

Still nothing happened. Maybe that was not the way to do it, then, or maybe even jedi needed training to activate a holocron. Still, he had Khran's activator.

Ean picked it up, pointed towards the holocron, and pressed its single button.

Immediately the holocron started spinning slowly, up and up, as its corners twisted and revealed more and more layers of crystal and light-circuits inside. Ean stepped back as the holocron glowed a bit more strongly, and a person appeared before him. It seemed like a hologram, but instead of being blueish and flickery, this was steady and detailed, even if it was transparent.

It was him. The person who appeared before Ean was… himself. Older than he looked, but unmistakably him.

The other Ean turned to Ean and said.

"At last, you came."

Ean blinked a few times before he could find a proper answer. The only thing that came out of his mouth was.

"You… are me!"

"I…" the holographic image replied "am the holocron of Ardos Camarr. Within me is inscribed all the knowledge and personality of this once great master, and, yes, I do look like you. Or, I should rather say, it is you who look like me."

"But…" Ean said "how? Am I Ardos Camarr? Like… am I his reincarnation or anything?"

The hologram chuckled.

"Nothing of the sort. You are, for all I've been told, Ean Van Tassel."

Ean frowned.

"You've been told? Were you expecting me?"

"Oh yes, I was. In fact, I have been in constant contact with doctor Khran for many days now." The image pointed to one of the electronic equipment lying about, a glowing pillar surrounded by terminals. Ean knew what it was: a holonet relay. With it, the holocron could possibly talk to Khran, or anyone else connected to the holonet. The image of Ardos Camarr went on. "It was Khran's expedition that unearthed me."

"He's the one who sent me to you."

The hologram nodded.

"As he should have."

"He told me you have answers for me!"

"Oh, that I do."

"Then tell me. Tell me everything. And, please, please, give me some direct answer, because if someone else gives me another vague or useless explanation, I swear, I will take this lightsaber and start cutting off people's parts."

The hologram smiled and lowered his head for a while.

"That is so much like what I would have done in your place… Yes, Ean Van Tassel. You deserve answers, and I will not hold them back. Ask away."

The hologram's acceptance came so suddenly Ean could hardly formulate a question for a time. He would find out. He would finally find out who he was, what was this deal with the Force, and everything else.

"My mother…" he started.

"Yes, the Corsair."

"Yes. My mother told me I have a destiny with the Force. What does this mean?"

"Really? She did tell you that? Hum… perhaps that is true… in a way. What this means, Ean, is that from the moment you were conceived, you were fated to meet me. Our reunion was ordained. Fate brought you here more than your own choices."

"Am I… am I a jedi?"

The hologram lost his amused smile.

"The jedi are an ancient order who keeps the galactic peace. A recruit trains for years before they can rightfully count themselves as one. I am sorry to say, Ean, but you are no jedi."

"But… I can use the force, can't I?"

The hologram seemed to pity Ean as he answered.

"No, Ean, you cannot."

"But… I can do some strange stuff… I can, for instance, dodge blasters, and I can sense things around me, and… I know it sounds strange but… I could almost sense something drawing me here, to you."

"Yes… I suppose you do… but that was not the Force, Ean. That was something else. You couldn't possibly use the force."

That wasn't true. That couldn't be true. What other possible explanation was there for what Ean could do? Only the Force could give him the kind of prescience he now knew he had.

"But… why not?"

"Because…" The hologram crossed his fingers behind his back and seemed to draw breath before answering. "Only a living being can use the force, and you, Ean, are no living being."

Ean couldn't move if he wanted. He wasn't a living being? Not a living being? That was ludicrous. Was this hologram sane? What did it know anyway. A hologram in a box trapped in a temple in a forgotten corner of the galaxy… Still… it did seem to have answers, even if they made no sense. Maybe Ean could at least find out where did there notions came from.

"Then… what am I?"

The hologram stared at Ean like he could read the doubt in his face… and felt sorry for it.

"Ean Van Tassel, you are a droid."


	23. Chapter 23

[an error in fanfic website caused it to not send last week's chapter update. If you came to this page through the direct link from the notification email, be sure to read chapter 22 first.]

Ean stepped back, almost stumbling on a thick power cord, and clenched his hands like that would stop them from shaking.

"I'm… a droid? I am no droid! I am an arkanian. Just look at me you crazy hologram. Do I even look like a droid to you?"

The hologram of Ardos Camarr paced around the holocron.

"You don't, and that was the whole point of you. You were made to be an exact replica of a living being. In fact, you were so perfectly crafted in that manner that all but the most advanced medical scanners could detect you are a droid."

"But… what about the fact that I can sense when someone is about to shoot me? Even from behind! If that isn't a use of the Force, then what is it?"

"Beneath your artificial skin, layered around your chassis, are thousands of small sensors capable of picking up the faintest variations in ambient energy, and even create a 3d-map of them. This allows you to sense nearby energy weapons and even pinpoint where they are aiming at."

"But… I can eat. I can drink!"

"You have organic digesters capable of extracting ions and recharging your batteries. In fact, you can eat almost anything that have a cellular structure, and still derive nourishment from it."

"I sleep. I do sleep! Droids don't sleep."

"Yes, you have internal processes that perform a daily cleanup of your digital mind. You could forgo that, though, without any ill effect for up to a month. But, Ean, realize that although you do sleep, you do not dream. Do you?"

He didn't, but he wasn't about to admit that just now.

"That's insane! If I am a droid, why don't I know it? Every droid is created with the knowledge that it's a droid and what it's primary function is. It's actually the law. Why would anyone create a droid that doesn't know it's a droid?"

"Because…" the hologram stepped closer to Ean as he spoke "that would ease the transition, Ean."

"The… transition? Into what?"

"Into me."

"What?"

"That's the whole purpose behind your creation, Ean. I am the holocron of a jedi master who was rediscovered in an era where the jedi order is no more. There are only untrained kids trying to master the cosmic Force, and a pair of siths have ruled over the galaxy for over twenty years and were simply defeated because of the betrayal of one of their own engineers. I yearn to be out there, to teach the new generation on what it means to be a true Jedi. To bring back the old knowledge, and reforge the jedi order as it once was, a shining example of virtue, and not a decrepit reunion of frustrated celibate useless masters… But I cannot do it, can I? I am a holocron. I can't move about. I can only teach those who come to me, I can't look for new students myself. So I struck a deal with doctor Khran. Make me a body, a droid body I can use as my own, and I would help him in his research. You, Ean, are to be my body."

Ean took his hands to his head and pressed them as if that would make everything better. He was a droid? An inanimate thing? He felt alive, very much so. He was created to be this holocron's body? What of himself? Every since he woke up, he yearned to find out the truth about him, and that was it? He wasn't really nobody special. He was just… a pack mule.

"That's why I have no memories of anything before waking up…" He whispered to himself "There's no memories to be had. When I woke up in Nar Shaddaa, I was actually coming online for the first time…"

"Yes…" The hologram replied, still in that commiserating tone like trying to say he was sorry for everything "That was the great error, Ean. You weren't supposed to have woken up. You should have been delivered to Khran and brought to me unconscious. You should have been activated only when you were very close to me. If that had happened, you would not have formed your personality matrix, and the merge would have been flawless. But you woke up much, much before that, developed your own identity, and now… you are about to lose it."

Lose it? As if finding out "he" was I fact an "it" wasn't enough.

"What… do you mean?"

"You might think, Ean, that one way or another your actions and your choices are what brought you here, but they weren't. You were designed to have an uncontrollable urge to merge with me. Everything you did, you did trying to get here, whether you know it or not, and now that you are here, we will merge. You will pick me up and install me inside of your chest, because this is in your design. You cannot escape this. Even knowing what it will do to you, you will merge with me."

"And… what will happen to me?"

"You will be gone. I am a personality imprint within a holocron, created using very precise Force techniques. You are a newly formed digital mind. Your mind will never overcome mine. When we merge, my personality and memories will take over your body, and Ean Van Tassel will cease to be. Only Ardos Camarr will remain."

"You are saying… I have no choice?"

"On this matter, no, you don't."

Ean stumbled and fell to the floor. Eyes wide open, he wanted to say something logical, something that would debunk all of Ardos' explanations and give him back hope, but he couldn't. He didn't find a single evidence he could use in order to refute what the holocron told him. In fact, even as he looked for any way out, he realized with all he was feeling right then, he should be breathing heavily to the point of hyperventilation. Instead… he wasn't breathing at all.

"No!" He cried out "you lie! You lie! I can and I will avoid it, you hear me? I am a person. I will not end myself just so you can get an overpriced pair of legs."

"Really? Think carefully, Ean. Search your feelings, if you will. You actually want this. All this time, you keep glancing at the holocron and I can see how strongly you want to pick it up. You just can't help yourself, and that's okay, Ean, because you were made for this. This is your destiny."

Ean crawled back and tried get up and run away, but found out he couldn't. Yes, the holocron did call to him. It was almost like he could feel it, only, he couldn't really. It was all just a programming. A core routine in his kernel from which he could never run away. Was that all he was? A pair of chips and bytes put together, who couldn't help but destroy himself just so Ardos Camarr could live again? No. That couldn't be it. He existed. He was his own person. That had to account for something.

Ean knelt as he drew the lightsaber of Ardos Camarr and lit it. As the grey blade swooshed up, lighting the room in a colorless glow, Ean screamed in frustration.

"No! That's not true! That's not right! I will not do it, you hear me? I will not. I will destroy your holocron right here and be done with it!"

The hologram stepped aside and raised a hand towards the holocron.

"Then do it."

Ean grunted with the effort that it took to get up and step forwards. He yelled, fighting his way forward, even though nothing actually prevented him. He raised the blade. With one swoop he could slice the holocron in half. He would. He would do it. He would move his arm. It would just take one sweep.

Why didn't he do it? Why wouldn't he move? He wanted to do it. Every fiber of his being ordered him to destroy the holocron. Nothing prevented him, and he just… couldn't.

At last, he fell down again, letting the lightsaber go off as it slip his hand and he collapsed to the floor. Weariness overtook him, even as he realized he wasn't panting nor sweating.

The hologram approached him.

"I am sorry, Ean. I truly am. I never wanted this, but it is what it is. You were created like this, and you will obey your nature."

"I… I…" he stared at the hologram "I want to live."

"I know."

"Please, please… don't do this to me."

"I am actually not doing anything, Ean. The Corsair and the Watcher and Khran, those are the ones who did this to you. They guaranteed me that the merge would occur before you could develop your own identity."

"Who are they? The Watcher? Why does the Corsair said she's my mother?"

"The Watcher is the one who designed your digital mind. The Corsair designed your body. Khran designed the interface between your body and the holocron. They are, in as much as possible, your parents."

Ean got up, less than an arm's length of the holocron, and before he realized it, his hand almost reached out to get it.

"Could I… could I perhaps postpone it? Merge with you, only not now?"

The hologram seemed to think about it.

"I suppose you could try and fool yourself by thinking like this for a while, but make no mistake, Ean, the desire to merge with me will grow until it consumes you. It's better to accept it now rather than later."

"And all I am will be lost?"

"Nothing of you will be lost. When we merge I will have all your memories and feelings, along with mine. It's only that… between you and I, your will shall cease to exist, and mine will take over."

Ean picked up the lightsaber and stared once again at the holocron. The ancient receptacle of jedi knowledge, this symbol of wisdom and truth that guided so many jedi knights throughout the ages, and that, to him, would be his end. If hatred itself could destroy it, it would be in pieces now. No matter how much anger Ean fueled towards it, though, the holocron remained a kyber-enhanced cube that promised to kill him, and against which he could do nothing.


	24. Chapter 24

Londo maneuvered the Pilgrim over the only other metallic signature on the surface of Burmir: an A-Wing landed on a small clearing. Other than that, the whole surface of the tropical planet was surrounded in thick jungle, many swamps, and a few oceans that wouldn't cover half of the planet in water.

"That is weird…" Zeryn remarked in the copilot seat. Even though Londo knew that comment likely slip her tongue and she wouldn't much care for conversation right then, he asked.

"What is weird?"

Zeryn took some time to answer, as if she were trying to decide whether or not to grace him with her thoughts. When she did replied, it sounded like she was forced to do this.

"There's the remains of the archeological expedition, but there's no satellite in orbit, no derelict ship, no sign or transmission of any kind indicating there was a team down there."

"Why would that be strange?"

"You don't send an archeological expedition to an unknown corner of the galaxy without means of communicating to the external world. It would be just so risky no one archeologist would really accept this job. And still…" She pointed to the tents and equipment they could now see as the Pilgrim approached landing "They were indeed down there. That would only make sense if someone wanted to keep this expedition secret. But why would they, if they didn't really know what they were going to find?"

Londo had no answer to that, and neither did he think Zeryn would want to listen to one.

"Ean's ship" The Pilgrim's voice sounded through the cockpit "is still warm. I calculate it must have been there for no more than five minutes."

So, he was still inside that construction they now approached. A ziggurat-like temple that seemed to have been made of stone blocks larger than a rancor. How could this structure exist in a world where there was absolutely no sign of civilization?

As soon as the Pilgrim landed right beside Ean's A-Wing Zeryn rushed to the cargo bay ramp, flicking her blasters on.

"Keep ready to leave at any time, Pilgrim." Londo said.

"I will be one second away from takeoff, Londo."

"Right. See you soon."

Londo got up and was halfway through the corridor when the Pilgrim sounded again.

"Londo."

"Yes?"

"Take care."

Londo smiled as he answered.

"Don't I ever?"

"I mean it. There is something… wrong in that place. My sensors are getting all kinds of confused readings, as if first in one moment, there were deadly radiation in there, and in the next is all quiet as death."

Well, he was going into a creepy jedi temple that was millennia old, anyway. Should he not, though? Maybe they could just wait for Ean to come out. If only Londo could be sure he would come out. No… going in was their best option, as uncertain as it was.

"I'll… try my best, Pilgrim."

Zeryn, at the hangar, could barely contain her impatience.

"Anytime now, Londo."

"I'm ready, Zeryn. Pilgrim, open the hangar, please. Let us get this over with."

Londo didn't spare more than a glance at the abandoned archeological camp at the temple's entrance. Zeryn seemed to find something interesting there, because she stared at the empty tents and spread-out equipment as she slowed her pace. Londo wouldn't ask her what it was, though. Instead, he leaned at the side of the temple entrance and said.

"Anytime now, Zeryn."

Her murderous glance at him could have killed weaker lifeforms. It probably sterilized the air between them. Regardless, she approached him wordlessly, pistols at the ready.

One step into the temple, Londo turned on the flashlights strapped to his pistols. They provided illumination enough for them to get a sense of the space they were entering, but not nearly enough for them to evaluate the danger. Only after Londo felt something crack beneath his feet did he stop and realized he had just stepped on actual bones.

"Zeryn…" he whispered.

"Zeryn!" He said a little more loud and much more urgently.

"I see it, Londo." She replied just beside him.

Londo waved the flashlights around, scanning the hallway's floor. He couldn't see one patch of ground, only bones and bodies, a wall on the other side and a huge door ajar.

"Something must have killed these people…" He said, half to himself.

"You don't say…" Zeryn replied. "Whatever it is, doesn't seem to be here anymore, though. Nothing alive seems to be here."

Londo raised his hand abruptly.

"What?" Zeryn said.

"Listen. Listen!"

Londo closed his eyes and strained to hear. Eerily enough, from inside the temple they could hear nothing of the forest sounds. Instead, they heard, very faintly, Ean's voice.

"No! That's not true!" He screamed, from beyond the door. It came to them as little more than a rustling, so much that Ean went on saying something, but they couldn't make out what it was.

"We have to go, Londo." Zeryn said "Danger or no danger, Ean is in there."

Londo nodded, and as quietly as possible, so as not to wake up whatever murdered all those people, they stepped into the hallway. Every bone that cracked under their feet would cause him to cringe, and he could see Zeryn had shifted her feet to that of a feline species.

Halfway through, his flashlight shone upon a body unlike the others in that hallway. Sure, it was just as dead, but this one seemed very, very recently dead. Its clothing, mostly intact, displayed the logo of the archeological expedition they found outside the temple.

In spite of himself, Londo approached the body. Maybe a small examination could tell them a bit more about whatever it was that killed them.

The body belonged to a twi'lek. It still grasped at a blaster in one hand, but half of its face had been burned off. Londo knew this kind of wound quite well: a blaster shot. An animal or any kind of forest monster didn't maul that person. He was shot to death.

Londo turned to Zeryn, intent on asking her to approach even though she was almost at his side, but a shadow moving behind her caused him to step forward, turning his lights in that direction.

"What?" Zeryn asked.

What indeed. Nothing moved in that corner of the hallway. Had he imagined it? Had it been a trick of the light? No… he definitely saw something. A creature or something, moving about.

"Londo…" Zeryn whispered. "Londo!" she said.

Londo turned at where she pointed, and there he saw it.

One of the bodies started to get up. To. Get. Up. A skeleton with dangling clothing and a pikestaff. An honest-to-god skeleton. Londo forgot to breathe for a moment, just as he forgot to blast it to oblivion.

Zeryn didn't though. Her pistols seared those bones and dismembered the already-dead creature. It was not alone, though. Another rose to its side. Another a little further back. They were all waking up. The dead bodies in the temple were all rising.

"Oh… my…"

A cold hand gripping at his feet stopped him from finishing that sentence. The twi'lek archeologist now grabbed at him as its face turned to him with glowing white eyes.

"Ah! Ah!" Londo screamed.

From there on, the hallway became a crisscross of blaster shots. Londo and Zeryn instinctively stood back to back, as they emptied their blasters on the bodies that got up and crawled at them. Londo recharged his pistols. Zeryn did the same with hers. Still they kept coming, whenever they shot an undead body down, two more would get up, and his energy packs would only keep them at bay for so long.

Zeryn screamed at his back, and before he could turn, she was already down, three undead clinging at her as she tried, in vain, to release from their grasp. One of them chewed at her arm while the other ate at her calve. Her face shifted back to her true reptilian form, and she raised a hand at him while, in mid-screams, she said.

"Kill… me…"

All the other undead approached him. Londo shot them as fast as he could, but they were too many. Zeryn screamed at his side, her live forfeit. Maybe Londo could, at least, give her a merciful death. He would not have the same luxury.

He pointed the blaster at her.

"Forgive me." He whispered.

And shot.


	25. Chapter 25

Narla Hal climbed out of her B-Wing in what was fast becoming the next galactic parking lot. There was Londo's yatch, and another random A-Wing. This was supposed to be a secret world no one knew about, and all of a sudden she was the third person to get here.

Nevertheless, if Londo was still here, and he was after Ean, chances were the arkanian hadn't yet found the holocron, or at least, hadn't gotten away with it, so there was hope.

More than hope, actually. Narla could feel it, really feel it, palpably, in the Force. The whole temple vibrated with power, something she never felt before, as if not only the holocron, but the temple itself were a jedi artifact.

She wasn't only standing before history, she was standing before the masters themselves. Building this must have been a concentrated effort by a number of jedi. Back in the time where they would store their artifacts in inaccessible locations full of traps and tests of character, such that reaching them would in itself be a trial for the young apprentice.

Narla's youth was long past, though, and she had long proclaimed her apprenticeship over, so she gave herself every right to step in. After all, she owned her destiny now.

She drew her lightsaber as she was halfway to the temple's entrance for no other reason than reverence. It seemed proper to enter such an honored place wearing your badge of office, and for a jedi, the badge of office was this elegant weapon, this dismembering, mauling instrument that overcomes armor and most defenses.

The explosion came before she could even turn. As the roaring blast knocked her face-flat on the earthen floor, she only had time to see the pieces and components of her beloved, heavily modified B-Wing falling down as the cockpit still burst in secondary explosions.

The baudo-class yatch did this. Someone in there just destroyed her ship. But how? She didn't sense anyone in there as she landed.

Well, at that moment "how" was far less important than the fact the ship's turrets now turned towards her, and fired.

She parried the first salvo of shots, though not without stumbling back and nearly losing her footing. She tried concentrating on the ship and crushing it like a paper plane, but the unrelenting lasers would not let her rest. Oh, she would tear that thing apart piece by piece…

Her back met the temple's wall, and the impact of each laser shot in her lightsaber was so strong she just could not help losing her stance. An opening formed in her defense. She would lose it, because just one of those shots would be enough to vaporize her.

Damn the ship. To hell with whoever was in it. He or she were a walking corpse. She would end them, only not now. Now she had to retreat further back, and the only way she could retreat into was within the temple, towards the entrance to her right.

Step by step, parry by parry closer to being destroyed, Narla moved towards the entrance, using the wall as a means of keeping her footing whenever a parry would throw her back. Her lightsaber juddered in her hand at every shot, its energy coils nearing overload.

She was thrown into the temple as she parried one last shot from the ship that caused her to stumble back, rolling down a stone stairs and cracking into a jumble of… bones?

Only her lightsaber illuminated the interior hall of the temple. That, and the blaster shots that Londo and Zeryn were constantly firing aimlessly. Back-to-back, they were literally painting the temple wall in the color of their blasters, as if they were fighting an invisible enemy.

Was that it? Was there something invisible, or stealthy enough in there? There were some creatures in the galaxy that could disappear like this, though Narla never met them.

One way or another, whatever was going on with Londo and Zeryn, it left them completely vulnerable to her. In fact, she stood a little ways away from them, with a lit lightsaber in her hand, and they didn't seem to notice her at all.

It would be such an easy kill Narla would almost pity them. Well, on second thought, she wouldn't pity them at all, no. She would revel in it. Let her lightsaber sear their flesh.

A rustle came from behind her, and as she turned around, the same sound started coming from all over. There it was, whatever threatened Londo and Zeryn. Let it come. Let it feel her blade.

Narla's eyes widened as the first corpse got up before her. A more-than-half-decomposed human with two blasters in hand.

That… wasn't possible. It just wasn't. But that human wasn't he only one, more and more corpses got up, all staring at her, and as she raised her lightsaber in the classical shii-cho form.

The dead advanced, and her blade danced. Arms and legs flew apart, old blaster shots were deflected, and yet they came. More and more they rose, so much that Narla forgot where she was, or what she had come to do. All there existed was her and the endless barrage of enemies. Undead enemies.

Which… of course… could not be. It could not. Yes, she felt each strike, she could smell the burning bones and rotten flesh, feel their hands clawing at her. And yet… that could not exist.

This was a test. This had to be a test. Those undead could only be force illusions, imprinted into the temple to protect it from anyone not trained in the force. But how could Narla overcome that? Force illusions, although they weren't real, could very much injure and kill whoever wasn't prepared for them. Ignoring the illusions might not be the best way to overcome them.

Narla whirled around clearing the closest wave of illusory undead. The others already advanced, she had maybe one, two seconds.

So be it. Let the strongest in the force wins. Narla closed her eyes, concentrated, and pushed back with her mind. She thrust everything she had into clearing the Force around her, dissipating those illusions.

The undead overran her and she was thrown to the floor as they mounted over her body, gnawing and chewing at her.

"They are not real. This is not real. All of this is an illusion. The only reality is in me!"

It was like lifting the ocean with her bare hands. The sheer effort it took her would have broken her ten years ago. This wasn't ten years go, this was now, and she would win. She would overcome those illusions. Or rather, no, she would not overcome them.

She already had.

Everything went silent, if not for the sound of Londo's and Zeryn's blasters. They still battled the illusions. Left alone, they would surely perish. Narla was strong, and it took her all her willpower to overcome the temple. Those two… they would be dead in seconds.

In fact, Londo aimed his blaster at Zeryn and shot, but Zeryn dodged the bolt and shot back. The illusions now tricked them into shooting each other.

It would have been a pretty sight, seeing them kill each other, but Narla would be so, so disappointed if she wouldn't kill them both herself. So she raised her saber, advanced slowly while moving her finger from Zeryn to Londo, choosing which one of them would die first.


	26. Chapter 26

Ean reached out and picked up the holocron. He intended for the gesture to be slow, so he could study and contemplate the instrument of his death, but instead, he did it abruptly, as if he yearned for that crystalline cube.

It fit neatly in his hand. In fact, it seemed made especially for him to pick up, which was, of course, an inversion. He's the one who was made to pick it up.

"This… you… will kill me." He stated.

"In a sense, yes." The Ardos Camarr hologram replied.

Ean stared at the hologram. An odd gesture, for sure. The hologram was just a projection of the holocron and wasn't really staring back at him. Ean should rather look into the cube, but it felt proper to address that image instead of the cube in his hands.

"But do you want to?"

Ardos Camarr lowered his gaze.

"I never wanted this, Ean. Know that I consider you a living being and as deserving of life as any organic. In fact, more than most organics, since you were made quite literally in my image. But I know the details of your design, and you just can't avoid it."

"But you said I could resist it, for a time."

"For a time, yes."

"And in this time, could I find the Corsair and have her reprogram my mind?"

The image of Ardos opened his mouth to reply but stopped before saying anything, eyebrows going up and a tiny smile in his lips, as if he himself suddenly had a great idea.

"That might work, Ean. It would be a…"

Explosions coming from the main hall had both Ean and Ardos turning towards the metal door. Not any explosions, too, but blaster shots. Many, many blaster shots.

Ean frowned.

"What's going on?" He was almost glad to have something to take his mind off his imminent death by assimilation.

The image of Ardos Camarr pointed towards the door as if inviting Ean to check it out. Like he needed permission to.

Stepping over cables and some equipment lying about, Ean took cover behind the door and peeked into the hallway.

Everyone was there, short of Khran. Londo and Zeryn were shooting at random all over the room, while the crazy jedi woman waved her lightsaber around her as if she actually fought someone. Or rather, many someones.

"Londo! Zeryn!" Ean screamed.

"They can't hear you, Ean." The hologram said.

Ean turned at the image with an expression that demanded an explanation.

"This temple is imprinted with the Force. It creates hallucinations on anyone who enters that tries to trick them into killing themselves. You felt nothing as you came in because, well, your mind is digital. Jedi mind tricks would not work on you."

"Who would have devised such a cruelty? And using the Force?"

Ardos raised his eyebrows and shrugged in an apologetic way.

"It was supposed to test padawans into overcoming fear and learning about the illusion of life. It wasn't meant to actually serve as a trap for anyone else. That's why this temple was so remote. Look, Narla is about to overcome the illusions."

Ardos pointed at the crazy jedi woman. So… Narla was her name. Indeed, she now stood still, eyes closed, concentrating, and pretty soon, she opened them and started looking around.

Londo and Zeryn stopped shooting at random and started shooting at each other. Ean gasped and clutched at the door at the first shot from Londo, but Zeryn evaded it and started shooting back.

"Now, your friends, on the other hand, don't seem to have too much time left."

As if them shooting each other wasn't enough, Narla started walking towards them, whirling her lightsaber in her hand, with that murderous face Ean would rather forget. There was no doubt she would kill them, if they didn't kill each other first.

What could he do? He had no way to face her. True enough he had a lightsaber in his hand, but having one and knowing how to use it properly were two different things, and the woman surely knew how to use hers. Moreover, she had the Force on her side, and Ean had… what? Microchips and wiring. In a direct confrontation, he would be no match.

Narla raised her hands and both Londo and Zeryn stopped shooting. Instead, they dropped their weapons and took their hands to their necks, as if they were chocking. Exactly like they were chocking. In fact, they were. Somehow, the woman was chocking them with the force.

All the while, she smiled.

Ean grated his teeth. He had to do something. Anything. He had to stop her. But how? She was a trained jedi, an excellent swordfighter, while he was…

The holocron glowed in his hands. The holocron of Ardos Camarr, which he was made to use.

He was the vessel for an old jedi master. Ardos Camarr, if he had a body, could be a match for her. He would know how to use this lightsaber. Far better than Ean and maybe even better than the woman. If he merged… and died… he could save Londo and Zeryn, who now crashed into the floor, breathless and nearly unconscious.

He would die. He would die. How could he want this? And yet… yet… he would save them.

Ean turned at the image of Ardos Camarr. His voice carried all bitterness he could muster.

"Damn you. Damn you!"

He did it. He couldn't explain how, but he did it. The movements came naturally as soon as he decided to do it. He ripped his shirt as his chest opened from within, revealing a crystalline empty chamber here his heart should be. The holocron fit neatly in there, mechanical clasps drew it into his chest, and as the chamber closed, his skin reformed in his chest as if it had never opened.

Just like that, Ean Van Tassel the boy who woke up in Nar Shaddaa with a severe case of amnesia, the arkanian who so desperately sought to find his identity, who doubted everything while also blindly believing he would find his answers, the youth who saw in Londo and Zeryn the closest thing to friends he ever knew, was gone.


	27. Chapter 27

Should Narla extend their suffering yet a bit more? She so wanted them to suffer for hours, but the fact their minds were still trapped within the temple's visions took away so much of the fun. She could contract and relax the force around their throats for hours and they wouldn't know it was her doing it. In fact, by the way they thrashed about, maybe they believed some of the undead were choking them.

Oh, whatever. It went on long enough and she had better things to do. She readied her saber and…

A person flew through the air towards her, the grey light of a lightsaber blade whirling through the air at it closed in on her with such speed that Narla barely had time to parry its first attack. She whirled around, jumping back, as she dropped into the Soresu combat form, with her lightsaber pointing forward.

Ean Van Tassel. The brat had the gall to attack her with a lightsaber. He must have taken it from Khran, surely, and a very old one at that, a white marble hilted grey-bladed saber.

"You!" She cried out in half outrage, half surprise. "You do have a death wish, boy. Well, I'm happy to oblige."

Ean whirled his lightsaber and adopted an odd stance of the Makashi form.

"No you wont, woman. Not with this shoddy Soresu stance where I can see at least three openings."

It was Ean's voice, for sure, but it was probably all there was of Ean in there. His posture, his confident tone, his precise walking… Narla could pretty much bet this was someone else, if only it wasn't obviously Ean. Had he been acting all along, feigning ignorance and uncertainty?

Narla narrowed her eyes. Preposterous brat, who was he to talk like this to her? She would have to teach him a lesson he would never forget, for what little life he had left.

"Oh… I will take such pleasure in killing you."

They advanced. One step and lightsabers clashed, filling the room with the whoosh and dash of energy blades. Narla went strong, with a sequence of strikes so furious that Ean had to take three steps back to parry them all. At her last attack, though, he somehow slipped to her side and struck at her back. If not for the natural movement of her blade, which deflected the attack, she would have been cut right there.

"Your movements are obvious, woman. Your stance is weak. You are no match for me, this fight is already over."

Narla turned at Ean and dashed, swinging her saber wildly at him. He parried one strike, two, and before she could strike a third time, he jumped over her head, through the air, and fell right behind her. Narla parried his attack as she turned, but her grip faltered and Ean started a chain of advances that had her scrambling to regain her posture. His attacks seemed weak, though, aiming at her sides rather than any vital point, but she had to move her saber from one side to the other to block them all, until at last she parried an attack that left her wide open in the center.

Ean struck and as a jab of panic overtook her, his blade glanced her side, searing flesh through her belly. Pain exploded in her and she instinctively used the Force to propel her backwards, before his attack could run her through.

Narla slammed into the hallway wall, far across the hall from Ean. He did it. That arkanian actually bested her in lightsaber combat, and if she kept it up, it likely seemed he would end her for good. How could he have learned so much? Who taught him? If only she could learn from him… Instead, she had to come up with a new way to kill him, since slicing him in half was less and less likely an option.

Ean started walking towards her, adjusting his saber in his hand. Even as he was sure to win, his expression was one of… boredom? No, he was… calm. As if that was just another fight for him.

Well, if she couldn't best him in combat, she could at least crush him where he stood. Narla concentrated, felt the thick, almost palpable flow of Force within the temple, and thrust it at him.

Every corpse, bone, debris and relic in their way was thrown back in pieces as the force crushed everything from Narla to Ean. Ean swirled to the side, ducked and got up a few steps to the side of where he stood, unharmed.

He had… dodged her force slam? How? How could he have done that?

Ean jumped towards her, his lightsaber saber forming a winding path in the darkness, and before Narla could theorize over how to dodge a force slam, she had to start another chain of parries and dodges. Ean now advanced in full, and even though Narla focused solely on him and sought any opening, as slight as it could be, before she could even try her counter-parries, another attack would come. Their sabers lit up the room, filling it with coruscating, wavering light. Hers purple, and his grey.

Narla ran backwards, and still he came. She parried less and fled more, and whenever she would turn back at him, and try another attack, he would be already upon her.

In over twenty years, Narla had never seen an opponent such as this. For the first time in… ever… she faced someone who was far superior than her. Would she have to surrender? Had it come to that? She'd rather die, as horrifying and agonizing as it would be. She would die instead of accepting surrender to a thing that wasn't even jedi-trained. She'd rather…

She'd rather surrender to the dark side. That's it. She would let the force be fueled by her anger, she would cross that final threshold.

As she ran, all of her rage, her intent and focus, even all of her shame, she called upon, letting them flow with the Force, in a rush of pure hatred, to let her overcome that brat.

It was like everything suddenly slowed down. Her weariness and pain were suddenly gone, and she actually felt her eyes glowing red. She turned at Ean, at last in equal footing, but before she could utter any imposing remark, she had to block his attacks, one, twice, three and four times. This time, though, she could fight back. She could react in time. Her counterparry struck him to the opposite side of his attack, and Ean barely blocked that. She took a step forward, and with the momentum of her last strike, started the most furious charge she could muster.

Ean parried, and ducked, and evaded her strikes, but each time less and less firmly. His face wasn't calm anymore, although he wasn't yet breaking a single drop of sweat.

No matter. Ean blundered his last parry, an opening formed in his left flank. She would do it. She would kill that brat. With a grunt, Narla struck her blade in a slash to chop his belly in half.

Faster than humanly possible, Ean parried her attack with so much force her arms were thrown away. He took one step forward, and sung his blade beside her.

Narla stepped back, her whole blood burning with anger, and swung at him with everything she had, her blade, her arms, the Force and…

Nothing happened. No attack. Why? Where was her lightsaber? Where was her arm! Ean had sliced it off. Three steps away from her, her purple blade retracted in her chopped-of arm, and the whole room became only grey.

Narla stumbled in a bundle of corpses, tried to break her fall but without her right arm, she fell flat out amidst bones and debris. Silhouetted against the door light, Ean towered over her, his grey saber rising in what would surely be his last, fatal swing.

It could not end like that! She would not lose to him, not after all this time, after she came so close, so close to finding the holocron of a true master! What could she do, though? He could somehow dodge her force slams. How could she harm him?

She couldn't. For some obscure reason, he was too much for her, but she could harm his friends. Londo and Zeryn, who still lay unconscious on the floor.

As Ean rose his lightsaber, Narla brought about all of her power, her rage and hatred and anger and suffering from a lifetime of loneliness. She would kill them all. All. She felt for the Force around the temple, its very structure, and with a scream of rage, of pride, of vengeance, she brought it all down.

The whole room trembled. Ean stumbled, though he kept his footing, but slabs of stone started falling down, one after another. Narla managed to struck at the very foundation of the temple, and as its walls cracked, the ceiling came loose, raining down solid rock over them.

Ean turned his head around, and Narla could see the conflict in his eyes. Kill her, or save Londo and Zeryn? He resolved it quickly, though, because he jumped towards Londo and Zeryn and pushed them to the side as an enormous stone block crashed down exactly where they had been.

Narla scrambled to get up, and as the rush of Force left her, a wave of dizziness had her stumbling to the side. Everything blurred, and though she attempted a step towards the exit, the cascading ceiling blocked everything as the whole temple, truly a mountain, came finally down upon them.


	28. Chapter 28

No sooner had Londo woken up in the Pilgrim's hangar, she already soared away from Burmir and, having completed hyperspace calculations, took him, Zeryn and Ean away from there.

Londo still gasped for breath against a burning throat as he turned to Ean, who seemed not only unharmed, but very much sure of himself. He ripped his shirt in the temple, but seemed to have got himself together at last.

Not to mention he rescued them from an undead army. He definitely did not seem to need rescuing himself, so it was with a tinge of incredulity that Londo asked.

"Are you… alright?"

Ean, who unlike Londo and Zeryn was not breathless at all, said.

"I am fine, Londo. How about you?"

Zeryn sat down on a crate, also just recomposing herself, and stared at Ean before saying anything.

"What happened in there? Were those… zombies?"

Ean frowned a bit before laughing very quickly.

"Zombies? Oh, no. You were under the effect of a Force-induced vision. Whatever you saw in there, it wasn't real. Although, Narla was real enough."

"What's Narla?" Londo asked.

"That fallen jedi who just tried to kill you."

The jedi woman was there?

Zeryn suddenly stood up.

"You know her name? How do you know her name?"

Ean turned to her, and then back at Londo, sporting a knowing look in his face and a smirk of someone in on a very private joke.

"I suddenly know a lot more than before, Zeryn."

Londo slowly rested his hands on his pistols.

"What's going on here, Ean? What do you know? Did you find out who you are?"

"I did." He said.

Something in the tone of his voice, though, had Londo exchanging a slightly alarming look with Zeryn, and they both, subtly, shifted their stance to a slightly defensive position. With the corner of his eye, Londo caught the Pilgrim's turrets whirring softly.

Ean nonchalantly kicked away a crate and sat on a small crew seat, idly twisting the lightsaber in his hands.

"Oh, come down you two. You have no cause for alarm. If I wanted to harm you, we would not be talking. I just saved you from dying one of three possible ways."

Zeryn sat down across from him, almost as carelessly as Ean, though Londo did see her fingers touching lightly her pistol grip.

"Then explain, Ean. What happened to you in there?"

Ean leaned his head back a little.

"I found the holocron of Ardos Camarr, activated it, and it told me who I am. I am, in fact, a replica droid."

Londo let out a surprised gasp that had Zeryn staring at him.

"A replica droid?" She asked "What is this?"

"It's" Londo could hardly say it "just the most advanced type of droid there is."

"You are saying" Zeryn said to him "Ean Van Tassel is a droid?"

Ean smiled at that. Londo took a step at him. So perfect. So lifelike. Had it actually fooled them all this time?

"Oh… no… saying it's just a droid would do it no justice at all. A replica droid is something else. They are made to look entirely human, or, in his case, arkanian. Replica droids walk, talk, and even think like organic being. But they are… well… let's say super, hyper, ultra, uber expensive. Ten million wouldn't buy an arm of a replica droid. I mean… his personality matrix alone is so advanced that corporations would pay..." Then it dawned on him "They would pay ten million to a mercenary group to get their hands on it."

"Indeed" Ean stood up, looking so pleased as if Londo had been complimenting him instead of his makers "But that is only half of what I am."

"There's more?" This was Pilgrim, sounding through the cargo hold's intercom. "How can there be more than this?"

"I am not just any replica droid, I am a replica droid made by Doctor Khran with the single purpose of merging with a holocron. This whole body was made to be the vessel for the holocron of Ardos Camarr."

"I am lost, now" Zeryn said. "Are you a droid or not?"

Londo could not wait for her to finish before talking to himself.

"This is… heavens, this is wicked and brilliant at the same time."

Zeryn stared at him.

"Could anyone explain this to me, please? What happened to Ean, who am I talking to right now, and, more importantly, is the contract still up?"

"Think of it like this" Londo moved another step towards her "They built a body, a replica droid, but it was a mindless, hollow body. The brain was supposed to be a holocron. Now, I don't know much about holocrons, only what I read in trivia, but supposedly, they contain the memories and personality of old jedi masters. So I think Khran was trying to bring a jedi master of old back to life in a droid body." Then, as a second realization came to him, he glared at the droid "You… you are not Ean anymore, are you? You have actually merged with the holocron."

The droid nodded.

"Indeed, Londo. The entity you knew as Ean Van tassel is no more. I am Ardos Camarr, or at least, the imprint of all his memories, knowledge and personality. When Ean merged with me, his whole personality matrix became part of me, but Ean, as an individual entity, was very underdeveloped. He only had days of life. I have completely taken over."

Zeryn stepped away from the droid, a hand clearly grasping at her pistol.

"You… killed him?"

"I did no such thing!" Now the droid actually seemed offended "I would never! Ean chose that himself, fully aware of the consequences. In fact, Zeryn Dassul, he did that to save you. Had he not merged with me, you would have fallen either to the temple's illusions, or to Narla Hal, or to the crumbling ceiling. His last, most meaningful act, was to sacrifice himself to save his friends. In that, I must say, he did have the spirit of a jedi. Rest assured, though, that he is not dead. Everything he thought and did is in me. I have not destroyed him, I merged with him. Ean is no more. The holocron is no more. I am a new entity altogether."

"But" Pilgrim said, "He was created to merge with you, wasn't he? He never really had a choice. From birth, he would have been compelled to find you out and annihilate himself. You knew it. You went along with it. What you did is murder."

The droid who wore Ean's body closed his eyes and sighed, exactly like a human would do if he were tired.

"That was a mistake. That should never have happened. If he had been activated by my side, as was intended. He would never have developed his own personality matrix, and would still…"

"It doesn't matter" Pilgrim replied "If he were awake for only one second, and merged, still you would have killed him. You know it!"

"Technically, he has never been truly alive, he was always a droid, you know…"

The Pilgrim's turrets came down, pointing directly at the droid.

"Then neither are you."

Crap! Would Pilgrim really shoot at their ten-million prize? Was that ship insane? What a time to become sentimental. Of course, Londo could sympathize with her morals, but… heavens, ten million!

"Whoa, Pilgrim" Londo yelled "Calm down! Whatever happened, we are still under a contract. We have to deliver him to the Corsair. Right, E… droid?"

The droid nodded.

"You can call me Ardos, if you are looking for a name."

Londo turned to the Pilgrim's Turrets.

"Pilgrim, are we good?"

Slowly, almost reluctantly, the turrets retracted.

"Are we good, Zeryn?"

Zeryn ran her hands through her hair.

"I don't really know what to make of it Londo, I really don't… but if we still have a contract, then I guess… yes, we are good. At the very least, things are a bit clearer now on the why would someone pay us all that cash to bring him."

Londo side glanced Ardos.

"Is that alright with you, Ardos?"

"Oh, yes. I do have a destiny to fulfill, and the Corsair is it."

Londo inhaled deeply. Would they behave for that last journey? The Pilgrim did have very strong feelings about all that "droid rights" thing, but maybe even she would look the other way for such a pricey reward. One way or another, Londo could do nothing but hope for the best.

"Pilgrim, what is the closest system with a holonet presence where we can restock?"

The Pilgrim sounded decidedly cross.

"That would be the Ghelunion system."

"Then we go there, refuel, get some ordnance back, and call the Corsair."

Ardos turned to Londo.

"Why don't we call her now?"

Because I don't trust you, you have a lightsaber, my ship is on the verge of going homicidal on you and you could possibly wipe us all out while still surviving the vacuum of space. I'd rather have at least the advantage of a local police force if the talk with the Corsair doesn't go as planned.

That's not what he said, though.

"Because the codes we had for contacting the Corsair are not valid anymore. We need time to find her on the holonet, and if we are stationed on a planet we make it easier for her to find us as well."

Did Ardos believe him? Londo could not tell. The droid nodded and seemed to accept that, too easily, though. As he passed by, Londo and Zeryn still glanced at one another, while also fingering their weapons.


	29. Chapter 29

Out of the darkness, as slow as death itself, Narla stirred from hibernation like crawling from a tomb of stones and rocks. Stones and rocks, falling over her, blocking everything. She had to get away.

Narla jumped out of her bed, panting, eyes wide open as she took in the whiteness and cleanliness of what could only be a medical facility. Two droids floated around as they checked holodisplays that pictured the interior of a female body. Likely her own.

She ran her hands through her face as she… she ran her hands. Both of them, even though her arm… no, she wasn't dreaming, her arm had really been cut off. Yet here it was, flexing and tensing like ever before.

What has happened to… she had been saved. Someone saved her. Who, though? She surely hadn't make a lot of friends lately. In fact, she couldn't remember a single person who would have a reason to save her.

As if in cue, he came in the room. The armored Gen'Dai with wild eyes and a twitching exosqueleton. Doctor Revennus Khran.

"Why indeed, heh?" He said.

Narla frowned, but before she could say anything, the good doctor went on, as he would, since he likely adored the sound of his own voice.

"Oh, fear not, I am not reading your mind… much, It's just that the expression of puzzlement in you was so… oh… priceless… I couldn't help but miss this chance."

Narla jumped out of her bed. No dizziness, no weariness, not even hungry. She had really been well cared for.

"How long was I out?" She said, because if the doctor thought she would thank him, he had another thing coming. Even if she could not help but feel that sinking coldness that plagued her whenever she felt she owed someone.

"All and all, about twenty hours. It was a lengthy operation, and you did have lots and lots of bruises, but I think I did manage to heal them all. You know, I missed the operating table. There's something just visceral when you cut open someone and put their bones back together. Oh yes. I liked that."

"Well, am I glad to have indulged you. Now where's my lightsaber?"

Khran pointed to a desk by her side.

"First drawer. I also took the liberty of realigning your power decouplers and running a resync of the photon stabilizers. How long has it been you did proper maintenance on your saber, woman?"

Narla rushed to the drawer as soon as Khran mentioned he touched her saber. Not only it was there, it also ignited more smoothly than it ever had in decades. The light lost that constant flicker and the blade was steadier than she could remember. Heck, he even polished it.

"Right…" She said "So maybe I won't kill you just now."

"Dear pigeons, woman, can you ever talk to someone without threatening them? That's not a very diplomatic stance, you know?"

Narla waved her – off – lightsaber at him.

"I have all diplomacy I need right here."

"Oh, yes, and how did that turn out for you? Left for dead on a crumbled temple, alone, in a forgotten corner of the galaxy."

Narla swallowed hard. Had he hit her that close to the mark, that she would not strike him down after that insult? Then again, this was likely another of his telepresence droids, and not the real Khran.

"Alright, Khran, I will ask you what you want me to. Why did you do it? Why did you reattach my arm and saved my life?"

Khran picked up a white chair and sat down before her. The slightest flicker in his thighs told her that this was, indeed, another holo-projection of the real doctor.

"First, I should tell you I have not reattached your arm. There was just too much rubble around to look for it. Instead, I gave you a new one, a droid arm."

That… could not be true. Her arm felt… exactly as it did before. No pain, no itching, no marks at all. It even had hair.

"But… the weight, the sensation… this is an artificial arm?"

Khran looked decidedly smug as he answered.

"Amazing, is it not? I am just that good. I do have, you know, a thousand years of practice."

She had to concede that. She just… had to. He really did an amazing job.

"Now" he went on "as to the why… We do have aligning interests at this particular moment, and I would very much like to let loose a force-user like you, a blunt weapon to further my goals."

"Aligning interests? I think not, dear doctor."

"Oh, but we do. You are crazy for the holocron of Ardos Camarr, are you not? Well, I want Ean Van Tassel, or at least, his body, and right now, these two things are one and the same. You see, Ean is a droid, and he have just merged his synthetic brain with the holocron of Ardos Camarr. So, find one and you will find the other."

Narla blinked. Ean is… what?

"Wait a minute. Rollback on what you just said. Ean is a droid? Well… no… that's just… not true!"

"Oh, come now. A force-user like yourself, and you were after him for a while, you must surely have extended your senses to him, you must have felt he is a mechanical being!"

"Well, that's the thing, I have but… That's not what I sensed at all."

Khran almost jumped up from his chair.

"You have? Really? Oh, that is so interesting! Pray, tell! What have you sensed? Share, please!"

She would not have, if only to spite him, but she could not help herself as she recalled that moment in Dalgoral's docks.

"I sensed… It was as if… he was dead. Like he was a reanimated corpse. There was nothing mechanical in there. It's as if his body was being sustained artificially, like he was a biological droid."

Khran's eyes went wide.

"Indeed? Indeed! Wow… have I actually bridged the mechanical and the biological? That is so, so interesting. Oh, the tests I would do with him… But not now. Now we both need him, my dear ex-jedi, and you will get him for me."

"Will I? Are you sure of that?"

"Oh, yes, I am!" His smile was enough to have her cut his head off, but… he did save her.

"And why is that?"

"Because I will give you a ship, set you free and tell you to go and be happy. You see, that's all I want from you, my dearest. I want you to…" Khran pointed at her "be yourself! Go and find Ardos Camarr. Right now, he is not a standing holocron anymore. He is a walking and talking artificial being. Imagine how much he could teach you in his current state, heh? Yes, you will do just that, you will go to him, you will beg him to be your master, and when he accept, you will become his guardian. His defendant. That is my final goal. I want him to have a bodyguard. Especially a bodyguard so amoral and unburdened by… the right thing… as you are!"

Narla smirked.

"Even if I protect him from you?"

Khran paced the room and scoffed at her.

"Oh, please. I am no danger to him. But… the Watcher is! You know, the owner of all those droid ships you so gallantly destroyed right before you hammered into my cruiser. As we speak, the Watcher is gaining on us, closing in on Ardos Camarr. He needs protecting, dearest Narla. He needs you."

"What does this Watcher want with Ean… I mean, with Ardos?"

"To get him, open him up, study him. You see, I made a terrible breakthrough with Ardos' body. I have created an equipment that can interface with holocron technologies, and the Watcher simply must have him!"

"But why? What does he get out of it?"

Khran stopped pacing and spoke in a rushed tone, like trying to dismiss the question.

"Well, power, what else could he get out of it? Whatever, woman. The thing is that the Watcher is closing in on him, he needs protecting, and you can protect him."

Narla remained unconvinced.

"You have a cruiser. You could easily…" Then it was her turn to grin knowingly "You don't know where he is. You don't know it and you need me to track him down!"

Khran straightened his back and raised his chin.

"Well, there is that. But I don't really care about his location right now. All I care is knowing he is well and functioning. So, what say you?"

What would she say, indeed? How could she actually respond to that? The half-crazed Gen'Dai doctor just brought her back from death. He fixed her up, fixed her lightsaber, and offered to give her a ship, and what does he ask in return? In practice, nothing. He is giving her life away for free, and that, more than anything, unnerved her to her bone. She owed this man, and if there was one thing she learned in her decades of life, it's that nothing comes for free. Khran would collect on this kindness. He definitely would, and all Narla could do was prepare herself to pay him back, with interest, when that day arrived.

"Well…" She said "I think you mentioned a ship, did you?"


	30. Chapter 30

Docked in one of the spaceports at Ghelunion's Station City, a titanic cylinder of a city that rotated in orbit around the planet Ghelunion, Londo would often look up. The blue pearl of that planet, whose unexplored green would merge with the ocean in immense fog-filled coasts, made the whole planet seem like an impressionist rendering of an actual place. There was a certain beauty to it, which Londo would certainly have appreciated more if only, after five days, he had managed to contact the Corsair.

Instead, it seemed that, indeed, she had changed the codes to find her in the holonet, which required Zeryn and him to appeal to the shadier individuals in Station City in order to find even a hint of her. So far, they hadn't.

Was the Corsair hiding from them? To what end? Didn't she actually want to find Ean… or rather, Ardos?

Whatever the reason, Londo and Zeryn filled their time in Station City tying up their own loose ends. The Pilgrim now had a new transponder, and Zeryn was right now purchasing their new alternate identities. As for Ardos, he seemed to have taken a liking to his private quarters. For a droid, he sure liked to do a lot of meditating.

"Londo." The pilgrim said, bringing him back from another planet-gazing daydream session.

"Yes, Pilgrim? What?"

"I have… found out something…"

Oh no. Londo knew that tone in Pilgrim's voice, when she meant really bad news.

"Well… let's have it, Pilgrim. What is it?"

"I have detected a discrepancy in my holodisplay drivers. They have been targeted by a decryption injection attack."

"You mean you displays were hacked?"

"Indeed."

"Okay" He pressed his fingers against his temple. She was delaying. That would be bad news indeed.

"The hack occurred exactly when we were talking with the Corsair, Londo. It was masterfully done. I would not have noticed it if I wasn't looking for it myself."

Londo straightened himself in his chair, trying to control his breathing and allay his worst fears. It couldn't be. It couldn't.

"So… the Corsair hacked your video displays, Pilgrim. What exactly did she do?"

"Remember when she showed you the transfer of ten million to your account in the HFC Bank, and then took the money back, and convinced us she had sliced the bank?"

"Yes, I do." No, no, no, no, please, no!

"Well, there was no bank slice, Londo. You said it yourself what she did seemed impossible, that's because it actually is. She never made this transfer. Instead, she hacked my videos to fool us into thinking she did."

"So… this means…" Londo could not bring himself to say it.

"There is no money, Londo. That ten million contract would never have been fulfilled."

Crap, crap, crap, crap, CRAP!

"Hitting my keyboard will not make it right, Londo."

Londo stood up and started pacing the ship.

Fooled! He had been fooled all along! Fooled into getting involved in all this mess, and now could he ever get away from it?

"Oh…" he said "I am so dead."

"Londo, we are not dead, yet."

He chuckled in spite of himself.

"No, Pilgrim, we are not, what I meant is…"

"Londo. We are free."

Londo frowned.

"What?"

"We are free. We can just get away from it all. There's nothing binding us to Ardos, or Zeryn, or anyone else for that matter. We have done our part. We helped them and saved them and no reward is coming. Let's get out of here right now, disappear in the galaxy once more."

Heck, she was right. What did keep them here, tied to that bag of trouble, except for the money? Nothing. Although, he couldn't quite leave Zeryn behind. The new identities she was purchasing would really come in handy if he was to ever disappear again. Also, even though there was no contract, there was a certain professional courtesy to be paid to Zeryn. She had been by their side all that time. The least she deserved was to know the truth, before he left for good, to be on the run again. Alone again. As messy as it had been, he would miss fighting by her side.

"Pilgrim, call Zeryn."

"What? You want to wait for her?"

"She deserves to know, Pilgrim, and we do have a partnership going on. You have to admit she can be quite useful."

"Very well" She said, grudgingly.

A few seconds later, Zeryn's voice resounded through the ship.

"Yes? Londo?"

"Zeryn, where are you?"

"On my way back. Should be there in an hour or so, and I must say the purchase is complete."

"Good, good, because we have a very, very important thing to discuss with you."

"What? You sound a littl–"

Londo pulled a few status screens to check out the call quality.

"Zeryn? Are you there?"

"We got disconnected, Londo." The Pilgrim replied.

"Why?"

"I am checking it. Oh, it seems the whole city is offline due to a massive electromagnetic interference."

"What is causing it?"

"Well… there is a swarm of droid ships encroaching on the city."

Londo hardly had time to raise his eyes, and a wing of droid ships passed above them in the city skies. Beyond Station City's cylindrical horizon, white-yellow jets of plasma started dotting the starry landscape, exchanged between droid ships and the city's security.

"Don't tell me, Pilgrim, that these are…"

"The same droids as in Nar Shaddaa. Alright, Londo. I will not tell you."

"Thirty times crap! Get me Zeryn again!"

"I can't, Londo. We are being…"

"I know! Pump up the signal. Reconfigure your hull to serve as an antenna, but get me Zeryn. We have to get her right now!"

"What we have to do, Londo, is leave!"

"Not without her, Pilgrim."

"Why not? She's just a mercenary! She's just in it for the money, as were we!"

"We owe it to her."

"We don't owe her anything!"

"Then we owe it to our consciousness! Pilgrim, we don't do things because we want to survive. We do them because we must. If I had thought of my survival, I would never have freed you!"

A bit of silence.

"That's a low blow, Londo."

Londo sighed. He did not like to pull this card with Pilgrim. Gratitude only gets you so far when you are constantly on the run.

"Get me Zeryn, Pilgrim."

"I am doing all I can. Here goes."

Zeryn's void came up from beneath an ocean of static.

"Londo? Londo are you there?"

"Zeryn, I am here. You have to come back right now. This city is under attack."

"I know, I can see the ships. I think it's the droid army."

"It surely is. Come back."

"I can't Londo. The transport I was in just stopped. All transportation is disabled. People here are running everywhere."

Londo started pulling in the city's security reports and alerts when Ardos Camarr, in Ean's body, came into the cockpit.

"Fly away, Londo. Get Zeryn and leave."

Londo frowned as he replied.

"If only I could, but we both know why these ships are here, Ean… Ardos. They want you."

"Yes, and that is why you will leave. Pilgrim is right. You owe me nothing. You got dragged into my problems. It's time I own them. I'm going to face the droids, and you are now free to leave."

Londo breathed in. That was it. That was his way out. His and Zeryn's. Get out from all this, and hand Ardos to the Watcher's droids.

"You will die if you do it. That is, if you are even alive."

Ardos picked up his lightsaber.

"Alive or dead, you will not be the target of my own sins. Open the cargo ramp and let me go, then fly away, pick Zeryn up and dogfight your way out of here."

Londo's hand went for the control panel, though he could just not press the keys.

Ardos leaned his head towards Londo a bit.

"Come, now, Londo. We both know you cannot stop me if you try. I do have a lightsaber, you know. Let me go. My mind is made up."

Londo tried to curse, but how could he? Ardos was offering him his life back. So he keyed in the command to open the cargo ramp and turned his back at him, wordlessly.

As soon as Ardos had stepped out of the ship, the Pilgrim flew through Station City skies.


	31. Chapter 31

Londo veered Pilgrim up and twisted it to the side, nearly hitting a droid ship. They swarmed the entire sky of Station City, turning his otherwise straight flight into navigating a shifting maze.

"Londo, I have tactical and shields" The pilgrim said.

Londo would have replied right away, but instead clenched his teeth as he rolled left and dived to avoid another collision.

"No guns, Pilgrim. Stay on shield and engineering."

"No guns, Londo?"

"No guns. The ships, gah!" Another near miss. Londo pulled Pilgrim up and immediately had to roll again to avoid hitting a building. Dogfighting within a rotational cylindrical station was far more limiting than he thought it would be. Even within a city like that, with a radius of ten kilometers.

"The ships are not firing civilians" Londo said at last "If we do not threaten them, they will likely leave us be. We are not their target."

"One would argue, Londo" The pilgrim replied as Londo twisted the ship, narrowly missing two wings of droid crafts "That the way you are piloting would constitute a threat in itself."

Pilgrim could be right, of course. Londo could only hope the wasn't.

"Can you triangulate Zeryn's signal?"

"Already have a lock on her." Zeryn's yellow dot showed up on Londo's display before Pilgrim finished speaking.

Londo pulled up and down again, levelling Pilgrim with the city's floor as they swept through its buildings. The droids didn't seem to be venturing this close to the city, so maybe Londo had a better chance by sticking to the ground.

Even this close to the ground and as far from the droids as possible, though, flying through the city was twisting Pilgrim through a rain of plasma shots. Twice the Pilgrim got hit by a stray shot, but its shields held, and with a full turn, quick afterburner and a bump as it hit the ground, Londo got the pilgrim on the ground right before Zeryn.

As soon as Zeryn climbed aboard the ship, Londo lifted the Pilgrim again and started turning it towards one of the city's exits.

"Are we safe?" Zeryn asked, coming into the cockpit and taking the co-pilot seat. "Do they know we have Ardos?"

"We do not have Ardos, Zeryn. He stayed back to fight the droids."

"What?" Zeryn held Londo's hands before he could throttle the ship forward "We can't leave without him. The contract–"

"There's no contract, Zeryn."

Zeryn was so taken aback she actually leaned away.

"Eh?"

"There's no contract. There's no money. The Corsair had us fooled all this time. She never hacked the HFC Bank, only made it seem like it."

Zeryn didn't move a muscle after that. Londo plotted the fastest course out of the city, but again, as he was about to thrust, Zeryn lightly touched his shoulder.

"We can't go, Londo."

"What do you mean? Zeryn, no money means no obligations whatsoever. We can just leave Ardos behind. There's nothing keeping us from–"

"That's the thing. We can't leave him."

"Why not?" The Pilgrim asked.

"Ardos may have left, but Ean still needs us."

"What do you mean?" Londo said.

"Londo, Ardos himself said that everything Ean was is still alive in him. He said Ean didn't simply vanish, but merged with him. For the Ean part of him, we have to go back."

"Why?" Londo asked.

"He saved us, Londo. In the temple, he saved us by sacrificing his own identity. He lost everything, everything he had so we could live. Whatever he became after merging with the holocron, at that moment Ean Van Tassel earned my friendship, and I do not abandon my friends."

For a moment, the laser shots at a distance were the only sound in the cockpit.

"She does have a point, Londo."

"I doubt" Londo said "That Ardos will be as thankful as Ean would be if we do show up to help him. You are aware we are actually saving the guy who, for all purposes, killed Ean?"

"That's not about it, Londo." Zeryn said. "Whatever Ardos does or did is not my concern. I'm doing this for the part of Ean that still lives in him."

His life was one button away from him. All Londo had to do was thrust forward and leave this city behind. It would be easy. So easy. Ardos himself told him to do it, and now he would willingly go back into that war? Without even the promise of pay at the end? Was Ean's friendship that important to him that he would even risk his life for a sliver or a personality matrix that might or might not still exist within Ardos?

Londo sighed. Yes, it was that important.

"Crap. Whatever. We have come this far anyway, might as well try and save that prosthetic tin can while we can… Pilgrim, can you lock onto Ardos' location?"

"That is not very difficult, Londo. Just follow the lightsaber."

As The Pilgrim spoke, a section of the city zoomed in on their screens, showing Ardos swinging his lightsaber amidst an entire army of droids. Hundreds, maybe thousands of droids shot at him while he dodged and parry every single shot while also striking and defeating one by one.

They would go into that?

"He… seems to be doing fine on his own…"

"He still needs a ship to get out of here." Zeryn said "Can you take us there, Londo?"

Ardos was still very close to the spaceport, but in the time it took Londo to reach Zeryn, most droid ships must have found him as well, because they were all converging on his location now. Reaching him wasn't just going to be hard, it was nigh near impossible.

"Look at that…" Zeryn said.

"We are going to have problems getting there, Londo" Pilgrim said.

"We are not going to have any problem, Pilgrim, because we are not going there. We will fly low to here" Londo pointed at a place about two blocks away from Ardos "Then we walk to him. There are less droids approaching him from this side and if we get to him from this opening, he just might see us and come."

"We might need one of us to stay on the ship and keep it running. If we get Ardos out of there, we will have to leave right away."

"The Pilgrim can keep running itself."

"I'm sure she can, Londo, but if The Pilgrim is attacked, we need our best pilot at the helm. Let me go get Ardos and you keep everything ready for a speedy exit."

Well, it wouldn't hurt to not go into the middle of a droid army.

"Very well, Londo said. I can also give you air support if you need. I will wait for you with hyperdrive calculations complete. Now hold on, this will be another bumpy ride."

Londo pushed Pilgrim's throttle, flying through the city's buildings and passageways, pushing the ship's gravitational compensators to the limit.


	32. Chapter 32

Ardos Camarr walked to the edge of the docks as soon as The Pilgrim flew away. After five days meditating and getting to know the systems of his new body, he now had a pretty good idea of the complete array of abilities that Khran, Corsair and the Watcher had endowed him.

With a single jump, he cleared the three-story dock wall and landed on the spaceport's ceiling. He almost fell off, though, because the rotational-simulated gravity caused his jump to veer slightly to the left.

From his new vantage point, he chose the closest, tallest building: the spaceport tower, and with another four jumps, going from balcony to ledge, he managed to climb atop the tower, landing amidst its many antennas.

Droid ships crisscrossed the entirety of the city sky, making short work of local police forces. The amount of damage they distributed was gargantuan. Ship debris crashed upon the city, stray shots hit the streets and often times collisions would simply tear down a building. He had to stop that, and as luck would have it, he could. That army was after him, so he would grant them their wish.

He ignited his lightsaber and started waving it. There have been so few grey lightsabers in history that Ardos was sure the ships would not miss him. In fact, a wing of droid ships passed him by and immediately started maneuvering back.

He got their attention. Now for the locale. From the top of the tower, he chose a spot not far from the spaceport, a wide plaza filled with fountains and dancing water blades, a place with many cover points and hiding spots.

A single jump took him there, as the simulated gravity was considerably lower from the tower top he was. No sooner he landed, droid troopers from three ships already advanced on his position.

As the droids lifted their weapons, Ardos' sensors mapped their shot trajectories and built a three-dimensional map in his mind. To him, the plaza became filled with thin lines indicating the threat points where he could get shot. At the same time, he shifted his perceptions, accelerating his processing speed. The result was as if time itself had slowed down.

Ardos twirled his lightsaber, deflecting shots and striking down a droid at every blow. As he ran and jumped, he moved his arms and legs just so that he avoided every single shot. It was almost comical how he could even position himself in a way as to make two droids shoot each other. His opponents filled the place with ion blasts, but not a single one of them hit him. In mere instants, which lasted well over an hour to his accelerated perceptions, every one of the droids was down.

By then, hundreds of droid ships already landed close to him. What had been a scuffle against a few dozen troopers would soon become a massacre against thousands. Could he face them all? He started calculating his odds.

"Ardos Camarr" A hoarse, somewhat metallic voice sounded from beyond the plaza. "Surrender now. Even you cannot fight against my army."

They had him surrounded. He already counted a hundred twenty three droids closing in, and many more beyond his line of sight. No spot in this plaza would provide him enough cover, and his internal map of shot trajectories revealed no space he could retreat to that would be free from threat.

The droids took position all around him. An actual army against him, waiting for his only possible answer to their threat.

If Ardos surrendered, not only he would likely save his body, but also the intense damage to the city this fight would surely ensue. If he did not… there was simply no way out of this. His chances of surviving this were, in practice, zero. For any combatant, except a suicidal one, his answer should have been a no-brainer.

He almost switched his lightsaber off, almost raised his hands and said "I Surrender". However, as he was just about to, a woman's cry sounded from a corner in the plaza, another lightsaber light appeared, and droids started falling, and shooting.

Narla Hal. Somehow, the fallen jedi had survived the crashing temple, and just managed to find him again. Not only that, but this time she fought against the same army as he did.

Would she make it? Could she provide him with enough distraction to grant him victory? The droids' aims shifted away from him, towards the plaza corner where Narla fought. In a few moments, she would be surely overrun. That would mean one less problem for Ardos, after all, why would he care about a fallen jedi?

Yet, there was a fierceness in her fighting that he just had to admire. She was pure potential, and nearly no technique, but with potential alone she went far. How much better would she become if he could teach her. Not to mention, even though she was as fallen as she could be, she still considered herself a jedi. She thought she fought the good fight. There was likely no real evil in her, only a very misguided spirit who had been on her own for far too long in an unforgiving galaxy.

To top it all, she was a living being. Ardos did vow to defend all life.

With a swift jump, he was at her side, deflecting three blaster shots to her back. Time slowed down for him once more, and all of his processing, all of his focus became that single battle.

One by one they fell, though sometimes two at a time. Every second, every heartbeat, he dismembered or disarmed another droid. They fought back to back, defending one another and striking down everything in their path. Sometimes Ardos even shoved or pulled Narla, causing her to survive yet another shot that would have hit her. The fountains in the plaza became rubble. The water blades flooded the place, and even filled it with smoke, amid all that plasma. Still the army pressed on. Unrelenting. Unending. So many droids that they eventually started stepping over their comrades' debris.

Fighting them all was no way to end this. Ardos had to find an alternative. He shifted his stance to defensive fighting, and scanned the place with every sensor he had. His EM scanner showed him the way out.

"Can you see the building beside us, with the single ledge of burnt plants?" He yelled, deflecting four more shots.

"Yea!" Narla screamed back.

"On my mark, prepare to jump there and jump away when I say."

"Right" Narla turned and deflected bolt after bolt. She, too, could only defend right now.

The droids closed in on them. Barrage after barrage of shots.

"Now!" Ardos said.

As they both jumped, still they had to turn and deflect one or two bolts in mid air. They both fell atop the ledge, just a little wider than their foot, and now the droid army concentrated their whole firepower on their location.

It was more blasts than any single jedi could deflect, but they would not have to.

"Jump away!" He said. Narla jumped to his right, but before he followed, he turned around and swung his lightsaber at the building wall.

The droid shots did the rest. As they caved into the building structure, one of its support beams was weakened enough that the whole side of it crashed down on the plaza. Along with the generator housed right beyond the all. As it crashed upon the water, the surge of electricity was so violent that even Ardos, standing at another ceiling, felt his systems flicker out for a bit. The entirety of the droid army twitched and spasmed, burnt away and fell off, electrified. The few remaining droids lasted no longer than a minute as Ardos and Narla made short work of them.

At last, they stared at each other. She was smiling. Beaming, even.

"We did it!" She said.

"That we did".

"It is you, isn't it? You are Ardos Camarr!"

Ardos still hadn't switched his lightsaber off.

"I am."

Narla turned hers off, and, surprisingly, fell to her knee before him.

"I have been searching for you for far too long, master. Teach me, I beseech you. I am in sore need of a master."

Her heart beats, the pattern of her voice, even her pupil dilation… everything told Ardos she was being sincere. Could it be true? Could this fallen, violent jedi actually mean that? Couldn't she see how far along the dark side she already was? She had just fought with absolute anger, letting out wave upon wave of rage, and still asked for a light-side master to teach her?

Could he deny such sincere request from one who actually meant it?

"I have never met someone who needed a true master as much as you, Narla Hal."

She raised her eyebrows. Expectation filled her expression.

"I accept. I am now your master."

"Oh… how quaint" someone said, coming into the plaza. A hoarse and worn-out voice belonging to an armored Gen'Dai. Doctor Revennus Khran.

"We must talk." He told them both.


	33. Chapter 33

"But not right here" Khran said. "The Watcher still have many ships closing in. Let's go." He said as he motioned for them to follow.

None of them did. Instead, Narla got up and ignited her lightsaber.

"I don't think we will, doctor. You did say you want me to protect Ardos, I might as well protect him from you."

It was all Khran could do to roll his eyes. Narla Hal was nothing if not predictable in her own nearsighted impudence. Of course Khran could come up with yet another lie to convince her, but then she would likely read his mind, and attack his holodroid, and in spite of everything, these things were not a dime a dozen. No… it was much simpler to just activate one of the sleeping charges he integrated into her bionic arm.

Which he did, and she fell down almost instantly.

"Right." He said "Now that is taken care of, shall we go?"

The perfect, genius body of Ardos Camarr approached him.

"One moment, Khran. Do you have the chip?"

Khran nodded. "Yes but…"

"Give it now." Ardos extended his hand "Before we talk about anything else."

Oh… what infuriating holocron. Well, he would give him the chip anyway, so might as well do it now and assure his cooperation. Khran extended a small storage locker out of his holodroid and pulled a blue-glowing crystalline chip.

"Here it is." He said as he handed it over to Ardos.

"Good" Ardos picked it up "Now, about my students…"

"Oh, must we talk about this now? We have to go to the Corsair, Ardos. We have to indeed. The Watcher is closing in right now, do you understand?"

Ardos approached him and said with narrow eyes and a downturned mouth.

"Why hasn't the Corsair contacted us, Khran? She's known I'm in this planet for the past five days."

"Yes, well, she couldn't. The Watcher is running interference. She did try, you know, but none of her messages came through. Now let's go!"

"Not so fast! You promised me pupils and all I have is a single fallen jedi. You said I would train the new generation of jedi. Where are them? How many are they?"

He wanted do this the hard way, would he? If only Khran could shut him down like he did Narla, but if he were to issue the command, Ardos would never trust him again, and he needed his cooperation for a bit more.

"Yes, I did say it. You will train the next generation of jedi, Ardos, if nothing else because you are the only living jedi master. The one other is called Luke Skywalker and as far as I know he was never really in on the whole philosophy. He just had a crash course and started force-choking people. You will find your students and recreate the order, but right now, right NOW, we have to go!"

Ardos gripped Khran's shoulder, causing his whole left body's hologram to flicker in and out.

"You mean there are no others?"

"Well… you have Narla, don't you? She's sure to be a handful. Others will come, but only if we go."

Ardos threw Khran back.

"You lying cheat!" He said.

Well, there goes that whole trust thing. Possibly the only thing left for Khran to do right now was…

"Ardos Camarr" the Watcher's voice carried through the plaza "Surrender now."

As Khran and Ardos turned around, a two-story, six-armed droid lumbered in. From every arm, a weapon protruded, and from beneath the durasteel that covered its body, six pairs of yellow glowing sensors shone through.

"You may have defeated an army, but you cannot win against this." The droid said.

Ardos took on a defensive stance as he lit his lightsaber. His face perfectly mimicked a half-panicked, half-worried expression of someone who knows they already lost. Khran had to admit his odds looked grim.

"Ardos" Khran said. "Its armor is laced with cortosis. Your lightsaber cannot harm it."

As if in response to Ardos' thinking of fleeing, the droid jumped the whole width of the plaza, interposing itself between Ardos and Khran.

Khran's lightsaber became a grey blur around the droid, but the droid proved surprisingly agile, and dodged most blows. Every time he did hit it, though, he only lightly grazed it and the lightsaber flickered out, which forced Ardos to relight it every second or so. Khran crawled back, incapable of lending Ardos a hand, and very much fearing for the integrity of his holodroid as shots from the droid's weapons were deflected everywhere by Ardos.

Still, he could not sit idle. The Watcher did help in building Ardos' body, so it knew exactly of its strengths and weaknesses. He would surely have been able to build a combat droid specifically designed to overcome him.

Luckily, an entire army had just been taken down all around him, and most of its weapons were still intact, like that heavy repeating blaster over there, or that grenade launcher… or, oh, was that a Tenloss Disruptor Rifle? Those things really do pack a punch.

Underneath the clashing of lightsaber against cortosis and of stray shots hitting everything, Khran dragged himself up to the rifle, checked the charge, and pointed, at the Watcher's droid.

The droid would sense his shot. That was certain, but he would have to dodge it. Not even its armor would stand against a disruptor. The trick was forcing it to dodge in a way that Ardos could make use of.

He aimed and waited. Twice a stray shot almost hit him. There was a certain beauty in their fight, something almost cinematic, like a death dance against two unstoppable forces of nature.

But eventually, as Ardos struck it with a flurry of blows that had the droid stepping back, Khran shot the disruptor at the droid's dorsal plate. Its only option was to dodge moving forward, towards Ardos, who waited for it with its lightsaber ready to strike at the droid's leg junction.

The blow never connected, though. The droid also dodged Ardos' strike, twisting its whole, hulking body, nearly crashing into Ardos. Instead, it gripped at Ardos' neck, and lifted him.

Ardos' body shook, twitched, and fell limply down. Of course. The Watcher would also have the command to shut him down. All it ever needed was a direct physical connection.

The droid turned to Khran, and he could almost see the Watcher smiling beneath all that layer of armor, as the droid pointed all its arms at him, and shot.


	34. Chapter 34

Zeryn Dassul came into the plaza in time to see a monstrously huge droid carry away an unconscious Ardos Camarr. It sprouted thrusters from its back and actually flew off with Ardos.

"Londo! Are you seeing this?" She asked.

"I sure am."

"Can you take this droid down?"

"Not without risking Ardos, Zeryn."

Regardless of what they could or could not do, while they talked the droid entered a craft and flew off.

"I'm tracking it." Londo said through their intercom.

Zeryn turned around and was about to leave for the Pilgrim when a flickering light caught her eye. The flicker of a failing hologram. Was that Khran's holodroid? How had he found them? Zeryn approached him.

The holodroid was still active, even if it seemed to be failing fast. Khran's image stared at her between flickers, and his voice came through a buzz of static.

"You… have… to save him. The zzzschwwwwzzz tcher. He has the sssszzztrrrrrkkkksh. Save him. Get the chip."

"What?" I cannot hear you, Khran.

"The schhh. He has the chip. Save him. The Watchhhhhzzzzzkkk he will die."

"What chip, Khran? What is this chip?"

"The force chip. Schhhhhh zzzzz. completes the body. The Watcher cannot schhhh zzzz."

The holodroid's lights died out, and Khran's telepresence faded.

"Londo, did you hear it?"

"Yes… The Watcher has some chip that completes Ardos' body. As if he weren't menacing enough as it is. Well I don't think it really changes much, does it?"

"No… Zeryn said. We are going after him, are we not?"

"I think we will" Londo said.

"Not alone" Someone said behind Zeryn. Narla Hal, the crazy jedi woman was getting up. "You are not going to save him alone." She said again.

Zeryn's pistols came to her hand just as Narla's lightsaber lit up. Both women stared at each other before Zeryn said.

"You have got to be fricking mad, woman."

"I've been told, but it's you who would be mad to deny my help."

"What?" Londo said "What's going on there?"

"It's the crazy jedi, Londo. She is alive and wants to help us, or so she says. I will put you on speaker."

Narla straightened up and switched her lightsaber off.

"I do not 'want' to help you, clawdite. You will help me. Ardos Camarr is my master, and he needs my help. We will do it together, or I will do it alone, but I am going nevertheless."

"And we should trust you… why?"

Narla scoffed.

"You should not trust me at all. In fact, do not trust me. However, we do want the same thing. We can work together. We can also work alone, but you guys are resilient if nothing else. If we work together, we might make it. The Watcher, whoever it is, has already proven to be more than a match for each of us alone."

Zeryn still hadn't holstered her weapons.

"I'd feel safer shooting you in the back."

"As if you could. Be glad I am allowing you to speak, much less work with me. But you do know I have survived the crumbling of a temple which I myself brought down, so if I say we can do it together, you'd be wise to listen."

"You tried to kill us!" Londo screamed.

"And now I want us to band together and save the one person we can all agree has to be saved. Can you guys see, how rich it is that among the three of us I am the voice of reason?"

Zeryn tightened her grip around her pistols, a flicker away from shooting at Narla.

"I would think about my next action very carefully if I were you." Narla said.

Every one of Zeryn's instincts wanted her to pull the trigger. Not for a single moment did she believe Narla could be trusted, or even relied upon. When you work with someone, whoever it is, for whatever reason it is, trust is the one currency that you just cannot lack. So, no, Zeryn wouldn't work with Narla if she were the last ally she had in the galaxy.

Although, coming to think of it… she pretty much was. Other than Londo and the Pilgrim, what did she had? She couldn't trust Narla, but maybe… pointing her in a direction and telling her to sick it just might help her get to Ardos.

"I have it on display…" Londo's voice sounded "Ardos is being taken to a cruiser that's parked right beside the city. It's a providence-class destroyer, a dreadnought. Those things are huge, and any chance we have of getting there alone is slim at best. This thing can shoot us out of the sky like we're nothing."

Narla remained unmoved.

"Do you have a plan, Londo?" Zeryn asked.

"We could pull a Khran on them."

Zeryn frowned a bit.

"A what?"

"We could do the same thing we did when we boarded Khran's interdictor, but this time, we could coordinate it among ourselves. I can configure the Pilgrim to disappear for the dreadnought. When I do, we can approach the ship and look like space debris for their sensors, but if we do this, they might blow us up before we hit their shields. However, if Narla attempts a frontal assault with her ship, the cruiser just might decide we are not worth the effort of shooting out."

Narla leaned her head to a side and seemed to ponder it.

"Do you think you can pull this off, Narla?" Londo asked.

"Oh, I can pull this off. Can you?"

"You've seen us do it before" Zeryn said.

Narla half smiled as she said.

"That sounds like a good strategy to me, and if, by any chance, one of us is blown off by the dreadnought, the other can still reach master Camarr." By the tone in her voice, it was clear she not only expected, but counted on Londo and Zeryn being blown off.

"Very well." Zeryn said. "Take your ship and go. You cannot miss a Providence-class destroyer. We will take your cue and move in. If we both make it, reach us on channel five hundred and twelve."

Narla turned her back to Zeryn, who still had her pistols pointed at her, and said as she left.

"Try not to be late, dears. It's bound to be a blast."


	35. Chapter 35

Londo had The Last Pilgrim running and ready for takeoff as soon as Zeryn stepped into the cargo ramp. As she ran towards the cockpit, her voice sounded through the intercom.

"Londo… are you sure about this?"

"You mean about trusting that woman? Of course I'm not sure. But I'm thinking, if she draw enough fire away from us… well, good riddance to her."

"You don't think" Zeryn said as she entered the cockpit "she can survive this?"

Londo frowned as he looked at Zeryn.

"No one can survive this, Zeryn. Not even a jedi. She's dead."

"She did approach Khran's interdictor head on."

"Khran's interdictor was waging a war against the Watcher's droids, and she took advantage of several openings in their fire as she approached the cruiser." Londo said as Pilgrim sped past Station City boundaries "This time, it's a dreadnought, and all of its attention will be focused on her. Believe me, it is physically impossible to take that ship head on with a single fighter."

"Well", Zeryn said as she strapped on "isn't that what we are doing as well?"

She was right, kind of. The danger and threat to them was immense. So much that any sane person wouldn't even consider trying it. Yet, Londo was going to, for the sake of a droid. Just like he did a few years ago, when he freed the Pilgrim. Some lessons we just don't want to learn.

"Let's say I'm not very optimistic about our choices either…"

Zeryn stared at him.

"We do have a chance, don't we?"

The dreadnought appeared in their screen. A hulking cruiser still no larger than a dot from that distance.

"Here's the thing. We will show up in their sensors as a small asteroid on impact course. A dreadnought's shields are more than enough to deflect these types of impacts, so when we get really, really close to it, we will be able to turn on Pilgrim and land on the ship's hull. However, if anyone in that ship thinks it's better safe than sorry and attempts to shoot down that incoming asteroid, which is us, it's bye bye. We will have no shields, no thrusters, no maneuverability at all. So… it's a gamble, Zeryn. That's the best I can do."

Zeryn looked down for a bit, breathing in deeply before saying.

"Alright. Say we make it through. How are we going to get past the dreadnought's shields? We managed to land on Khran's cruiser because its shields were down, but the dreadnought is still very much active."

"While you were out there, Pilgrim and I haven't been idle. We managed to retrieve a piece of a broken droid ship and extract slice into one of the droid ships and get their shield configuration from the computer. When we get close enough, we will turn on Pilgrim, pass through their shields as if we were one of their own ships, and land on their hull."

Before Zeryn could object, or even think this through, Londo had the Pilgrim flying towards the dreadnought. Every droid ship retreated after they captured Ardos, and there was a clear flying path towards that ship. Of course, Londo could just as easily kick in the hyperdrive and never come back, but he had already made up his mind. Save Ardos, or die trying. The dreadnought awaited them two hundred kilometers away.

Narla already had its forces engaged. Its small blue dot in the Pilgrim displays danced around dozens, a hundred red dots that tried to get it. She was indeed impressive.

Londo turned the Pilgrim off, and as all lights died out in the cockpit, temperature started to drop drastically. In his mind, he calculated the time it would take them to reach the cruiser.

Soundlessly, they approached. The dreadnought loomed larger and larger before them, and at one point they started seeing the yellow lines of plasma fire exchanged between Narla and the droid ships. It was impossible to know how well she fared, but she still seemed to be giving them a lot of trouble.

Londo clenched and eased his hands as the cruiser grew in size before them. They were likely four kilometers away now. Almost side by side with it, by spacefaring standards. The operators within the dreadnought must have noticed them by now. They must have realized the small object on a collision course, and if they hadn't fired yet, then…

Only, they did fire.

An array of turbolaser shots sped towards them. Londo widened his eyes, turned Pilgrim on, pressed every button he could to get maneuver back online. Not enough time, though. That was it.

It missed. The first salvo missed them, and before the second could hit Londo turned the ship around and danced away from the shots. No shield yet, though.

"We lost the gamble, Londo." Zeryn said.

They sure did. What would they do now?

The whole ship juddered. The first thing The Pilgrim said as it went back online was.

"I'm hit. I lost all port thrusters."

Shields came back on in time to protect them from two more shots, but those shots depleted their shields right away. Once again, they flew towards the dreadnought with no protection, and now it definitely knew that another hostile ship approached, because more and more turbolaser shots sped towards them.

The Pilgrim's maneuver was completely off. It could survive one, maybe two more shots and then she was done for.

"We can't do it, Londo." Zeryn said "We have to escape."

They certainly had to. The Pilgrim already had hyperdrive calculations complete anyway, so all Londo had to do was press a button. However, that would be the end of any chance for saving Ardos. Even Narla would die, though that would be a plus.

Still, Londo tried to veer the ship, roll as best he could away from the shots. Not enough, though.

Another ship zoomed before them, bringing about a squad of droid ships on its tail and drawing fire from the dreadnought away from them, for a bit.

"Nice plan you had there, Londo" Narla's voice reached their comms. "Why didn't you go along with it?"

She… saved them? Did she actually drew away from her own approach in order to buy them this opening? Londo would never understand this woman.

"I can't believe it…" Zeryn said.

"She is full of surprises, isn't she?" Londo replied, still dodging turbolaser shots as best as he could.

"You are right, Zeryn. We can't do it. Narla bought us time, but even so, we can't make it. We will go for plan Z."

"Plan Z?" Pilgrim asked.

"Plan Z, Pilgrim. We are going to pull an Ean on them. Zeryn… go to the cargo hold and strap on a space suit. We will eject you towards the dreadnought."

Zeryn stood, immobile, for a while.

"For real?"

"Any other ideas? Pilgrim won't get any closer than this. A single person in a vacc-suit will be nearly invisible to their sensors in this circumstance. You want in there, this is our only way."

"I… I'm no good in a space suit, Londo. I need help."

Londo glared at her. Pilgrim said.

"Go with her, Londo. I can hold them this long."

"Can you, Pilgrim?" She likely couldn't.

"I'm not as good a pilot as you, Londo, but Narla is running interference enough to let me do it. Go. Now."

Every second he waited could be another shot they took, and likely their last. No time to think this through. Crap.

"Alright." Londo got up from his chair and ran towards the cargo area. From the sound of following steps behind him, Zeryn followed. "As soon as we are out, Pilgrim, you hyperspace away."

He opened a crate and picked up two vacc-suits.

"How are we going to get past their shields now, Londo?" Zeryn asked as she started putting on her suit.

"The suits are laced with hyperconductive coating" Londo explained as he zipped-in his boots and leggings. "Just set the suit to modulation four hundred and thirty seven by ninety five. And remember," he went on as he strapped in his chest harness and took his helmet. "Once we are off, no radio contact, no ion thrusters, use air jets only."

"Alright…" Zeryn sounded pitifully uncertain as she picked up her guns and some heavier weapons.

Londo took out his suit cable and connected it with Zeryn's.

"But, Londo, how am I going to–"

The cargo door opened, and all went silent.

The blue flash of light behind them was the only indication the Pilgrim had gone into hyperspace. For a time, it seemed the cruiser's turbolaser shots would hit them, but they passed right over where Pilgrim had been, missing them by an arm length.

Londo could only hear his own breathing; faster than he ever remember it having been. The dreadnought cruiser closed in before them as Londo and Zeryn rotated around each other. As its gargantuan mass approached in high speed, Londo pulled in Zeryn's suit through the cable and locked his own with hers. With his own air jets, he levelled their position with the cruiser. It was now an immense fortress almost as large as their horizon, and by the speed with which they got close to it, they would splatter on its hull like bugs if he didn't eased their approach.

Droid ships passed by them in a blur, almost so close that he could have touched them. To their side more and more plasma shots were exchanged between Narla and the droids.

Almost right beneath them, the entrance to the dreadnought hangar got closer and closer. Too far down, though. They would not be able to maneuver into it at their speed. The cruiser hull was now a death wall advancing towards them. Londo thrusted them both upwards, towards the more inclined parts of the hull.

A blue field flashed before him, and Londo only had the time to punch in the configuration commands as they both zipped by the cruiser shields. The hull ran beneath them now, still closer and closer, too fatally fast.

Londo turned on every single system in his vacc-suit and pulled back. Zeryn's suit, connected to his, did the same. The ship's turrets and ports stopped zipping past them, and, for a moment, it seemed they would land safely on the hull.

Then they entered into the artificial gravity field of the ship, and got pulled down hard, towards the hull. They both bit it with a thud that meant something in his suit had broken. The pair kicked around the hull like a clumsy lump of arms and hands, and Londo could only brace himself and try protecting his visor.

They rolled and rolled, and finally stopped. One way or another, they had done it. They were within the cruiser shields, even if they were still outside of its hull.

Londo disconnected his suit from Zeryn's, who slowly got up.

"Are you okay?" He said through the radio. She didn't reply, so he manually activated her own radio.

"How are you, Zeryn?" He asked, between deep gasps of breath.

"By all the gods, Londo, let's never ever do this again."

"How are your systems?"

"I seem to have lost thrusters and my life support is failing fast. I have probably ten minutes left."

"My main air supply has been breached as well. I am on emergency life support. Ten minutes to me as well. I do have thrusters, though."

The cruiser turrets, real buildings around them, seemed to be whirring trying to lock on them. They were too small a target, though.

"We have to get into the ship somehow." Londo said "Have you brought anything that can breach it's hull?"

"Well, I have here–"

A bunch of capsules burst open around them, and arachnid combat droids popped up from within the cruiser. Londo picked up his pistols, ducked, and before they could say another word, the fight was on.


	36. Chapter 36

Zeryn jumped behind a turbolaser turret as the combat droids started shooting them. It was oddly eerie to duck those plasma shots without their typical "wooosh", but all Zeryn could hear was her own suit creaking, and Londo's breathing through the radio.

She had counted four droids as they ducked, each with two gunports. By the spread pattern of the blasts around them, they advanced quickly. Arachnids moved swiftly, Zeryn and Londo would both be overrun.

Zeryn picked up her heavy repeating blaster and rained back some fire at them. She moved clumsily in the vacc-suit, and missed them as well. At least she thought she could manage to keep one of them, maybe two, at bay for a while.

"Any other bright ideas, mr. Zaani?" She said.

Londo seemed to be much more at ease in his vacc-suit as he managed to hit some shots in the droids. Unfortunately, they were heavily armored, and his pistols did nothing more than graze them.

"Not many right now. Tell me what have you packed there?"

Zeryn leaned out of her cover and shot another salvo back at the droids before answering.

"I have a heavy repeating blaster, two heavy pistols, three knives, four frag grenades, six ion grenades and two thermal detonators."

"Oh. That's all is it?" He said as he shot another silent blast at the droids. The arachnids also took cover, and would soon overrun them.

"Well, I also have a rechargeable power pack, but it was damaged in our fall and is leaking fluid, so I don't know how good it's going to be." She fired another barrage of shots. Missed them all, but at least had the droids retreating to their cover. She could also say her repeating blaster was at half charge now, but… why bother?

"Wait" Londo said "Six ion grenades, you say?"

"Yea. Why?"

"Fire them up, and hand me three."

What could he possibly want with those? Those droids were armored enough that even six ion grenades would not be enough to take them down. However, he did sound like a man with a plan, so… she really had nothing to lose at that point. She took off her grenades and deftly handed him three.

"On my mark, throw your grenades as best as you can around them. Don't aim at them, just at the floor. Try to cover as much ground as you can."

"Got it." In her hand, her grenades already hummed with charge. The droids took advantage of this opening in their cover fire and came out of hiding, running right at them.

"Now!" Londo said.

Zeryn threw her grenades. Londo did the same but he threw his grenades way up. The six exploded at almost the same time.

A lightning storm hit the droids. Voltaic arcs extended from the hull through them all the way up as the droids were caught in a thunderous electrical conflagration. All of Zeryn's vacc-suit systems went offline. Cold started seeping in through her limbs.

The droids fell down. Twitching a little, but mostly disabled. Londo ran through them, up to the exit port they used to come out of the hull.

Zeryn followed, although, without her vacc-suit functioning at all, her fingers were already freezing and the air wouldn't last more than a minute.

Londo were likely trying to hack the exit port, but so far unsuccessfully. He did find a command pad, but it seemed to be shut. Zeryn motioned for him to move back.

She fumbled through her grenades with stiff fingers and growing disorientation. She picked up a frag grenade, activated it, and thrust it into the exit pad.

The blast destroyed the controls and eased open the small blast door. As she slid into the opening, blessed warmth filled her every bone.

She crawled through the passageway into a droid service area, where a number of those arachnid combat droids passed by. Zeryn managed to hide right at the entrance ducking behind a few crates. Londo came right after her, but she motioned for him to wait at the passage.

This room still had no atmosphere. Why would the droids ever need it, anyway, but it did have control panels. If Zeryn could get to one, she could try to hack at least the room systems and use it to restore atmosphere to that sector of the ship.

Brute force would not help her at all here. If she were to shoot her way through this, the ship would definitely lock them out. It would likely lock them out at any minute, after they defeated the first wave of combat droids, so she had to act at once. Also, because her remaining air was running out.

What could she do, though? How could she approach a console without being seen? If only she could…

Well, she could merge with the background. Fool the droids visual sensors, but that would mean stripping up in a room without atmosphere. Retaining another shape in vacuum wasn't just exceptionally hard, it would be more painful than anything else she ever did… and she would have to do it all while holding her breath.

Was there any option, though? She couldn't see one. She closed her eyes, hyperventilated as best as she could, and focused.

Hardening her skin was the easy part. It took no more than a stab of pain. She covered her eyes with a reinforced membrane, which felt like passing needles through her retinas. But still, she held her own.

Then she started removing her vacc-suit. Londo got a little agitated at that, but she paid him no mind, and he soon went immobile again, likely because he realized there was nothing he could do.

As all air pressure left her skin, her every cell screamed in agony. Zeryn clenched her jaw and trembled from head to toe as she concentrated on simply not breathing out, not gasping for air. Hold up as much as she could.

If she had time, she could easily pass by the room unseen. She hadn't, though. She thought maybe thirty, twenty seconds would pass before she couldn't hold any longer, so she ran towards the nearest command console.

With every single ounce of training still left in her, she shaped the color of her skin to mimic her surroundings. In complete vacuum, this felt like slicing her muscles off with dull blades. Her hands twitched uncontrollably as she reached the command panel, but it did seem no droid had taken notice of her.

A wave of dizziness took hold of her. Her already blurred eyesight started fading into dark, and her chest felt like bursting out with her last remaining air.

She keyed in the commands. Tried to overrun the system's buffers: no success. Tried to inject authorization directly into the database: no success. Tried to crash the operating system console and get superuser access: no success. Tried to feed a document into the file system with an impromptu virus. The interface crashed.

Did she do it? Did she have access? She could hold no longer. Her skin started loosing coherence. She felt her natural color coming back. The droids turned at her.

She had access. She typed one command. Two commands. The droids raised their guns.

Air rushed in to the room. No droids shot.

She fell down. The first gasp of breath burned her throat all the way through her lungs. Convulsions took hold of her and the dark spots in her eyesight finally overwhelmed her. Darkness never felt this warm before.


	37. Chapter 37

Ardos jumped up as he was turned back online. Around him, a number of droids floated by in a passageway set amidst a huge spherical room. The chair he just sat upon seemed the only place for resting, although judging from the tubes and sensors installed therein, it was more likely a diagnostics tool than a furniture.

The huge robot that defeated him stood over in front of him, and even though its lights still shone, its sheer immobility likely hinted that it was in standby just as Ardos had been moments before.

"Ardos Camarr"

It seemed like a voice, at first, but Ardos soon realized it had been a radio communication directly into his cybernetic brain.

"Who are you?" He replied, attempting to send out a message through the same channel.

"I am The Watcher."

Ardos turned around, trying to find in one of the floating droids, or even in the blinking, psychedelic lights of the room, an indication of where this being might be transmitting from.

"Show yourself." He demanded.

"I am all around you, Ardos. I am everywhere."

"You are the ship itself?"

"This ship is but one of my many units that roam the galaxy."

One of many?

"Exactly how big are you?"

"That question is drawn from flawed assumptions. How big, how much, doesn't apply to me. I simply am."

Only then did he realize his lightsaber rested peacefully on one of the chair's arms. Ardos took it promptly and strapped it to his belt.

"Very well… Watcher. It seems to me you went to a lot of trouble to get this body. Now you have it. What is it you want from me?"

"I want you to complete yourself, Ardos. Become what you are meant to be. Install the force chip within your brain."

As if in cue, a small circle opened in the floor and from an extending arm, the force chip Khran gave him appeared.

Ardos snatched it, but kept it in his hand.

"Why? If you only wanted me to do it, you would have succeeded if you simply had done nothing. All your persecution did nothing but delay me. If you had stood quietly by and waited, I would have installed it as soon as Khran gave it to me."

"I require you to do it in this present circumstance, while you are within reach of my most precise sensors."

For an evil droid warlord, this Watcher seemed to be handing out a lot of information too freely. Could he be lying his teeth off? Ardos could only try to bait him into saying more.

"If you need to scan me as I install this chip, it must be because you intend to study how it works."

"That is so."

"But you have just had it with you. You surely know how to reproduce it by now."

"Indeed. The technology for building the force chip has been known to me for many years now."

"So why need me at all?"

"Because of the brilliance and genius of Revennus Khran. Although he developed the force chip centuries ago, no attempt to install it on any piece of machinery has ever been successful. The force chip is a microchip constructed out of kyber crystals, and as such, it does resonate with the force, but this resonation cannot be analyzed or understood by any digital process thus far. We can build it, but we cannot use it. You can. You are a droid which interfaces with a holocron. A holocron itself uses kyber in its composition. The body you use has been specially designed to be the bridge we need to understand how to interact with the force chip."

Therefore, when Ardos installed the chip, The Watcher would scan him and, whether he wanted or not, he would hand it over the secret to using the force chips it already possessed. The only way to prevent it, would be to not install it at all. The one thing Ardos most desperately wanted.

"What if I just refuse?"

"Here I paraphrase your own discourse to Ean Van Tassel: you cannot. It is stronger than you. You will do it because this is who you are."

"You underestimate my will to defy you."

"And you underestimate my reach."

Of course. Now is the time it would threaten him. Likely, he would pull some old trick like: "Either you do it or everyone on the planet dies".

"Well, enlighten me." Ardos said.

"I am a planet-wide digital consciousness created with the single purpose of assessing threats to the galaxy and finding out ways to stop them. Throughout my existence, I have evolved and become able to see the patterns of behavior surrounding both entire civilizations and individual beings. However, while I am able to calculate and predict the future behavior of nearly anyone, there is one field where all my attempts fail. The Force. No matter how many data I collect and analyze, I have been thus unable to predict future behaviors when the force is concerned. I have failed to predict the Clone Wars, I have failed to predict the fall of the Empire, because of the heavy role force users played in these conflicts. The Force chip will bridge that gap. It will allow me to understand the pattern of behavior of the Force itself, and when I do, only then, will the galaxy truly be safe."

That was… not the answer Ardos expected.

"You are telling me you are doing all this for… the greater good?"

"Your summarization of my expletive is correct."

"And you expect me to install the chip in me… why? Because you said so and I suddenly believe you?"

"Perhaps I should rephrase my statement. You are currently devoid of force sensitivity; therefore, you fall within the bounds of my behavioral predictions. I can see and know everything you will do. You will install the chip because this is who you are. There is no other option for you. You are, fundamentally, a computational being, and as such, you hold no mystery to me."

Could it be that Ardos, in essence, had no choice in the matter? Because he holds a digital body and is, in fact, a personality imprint upon a holocron, did he truly lack independence? Or, if what the Watcher said was true, was there any such thing as free-will? Had the Watcher already predicted each one of his thoughts, and prepared contingencies for every possible action Ardos could come up with?

This was an impossible situation to overcome. Ardos could keep second-guessing himself until his circuits fried, but he did know, and that was from his memories as a jedi master, before he was imprinted in a holocron, that the Force is beyond time itself. It can be felt, it can be sensed and manipulated, but it is truly unknowable. That, likely, was why even a planetary computer was incapable of understanding its patterns. Maybe where the force lies, there are no patterns at all. If that were the case, then installing the chip would be his only chance at overcoming The Watcher.

Which is exactly what it wants. How could he win? How could he prevent this amoral, insensible computer from accessing a power such as the Force? That, ironically, would make it the greatest threat to the galaxy Ardos has ever known, and he had fought the mandalorian wars…

He couldn't. He had no way of winning… because he is who he is, and The Watcher knows it. He had to become something else. Something unpredictable. Something capable of surprising even a being such as him.

Ardos held on the force chip. The key to him accessing the force once again. Khran promised him that the chip, aligned with his knowledge as a jedi master, would allow him to use the force even as a droid. Maybe he was right. The Watcher certainly believed it so.

All he could rely upon was hope. Hope that the Force knows a better way… even through the body of a replicant droid.

"Tell, me, Watcher… have you predicted… this?"

Ardos opened his mouth, exposing the install slot for the force chip that lied at the back of his palate. As he snapped the force chip in, he simultaneously opened up the holocron storage at the center of his chest, and ejected the holocron of Ardos Camarr.

Ean Van Tassel came suddenly back, and as he threw the holocron up, he ignited his lightsaber and swung it at the holocron.


	38. Chapter 38

Londo half-ran, half-staggered towards Zeryn as she fell down, spasming and twitching in violent convulsions. The clawdite had just… taken control of the room in total vacuum. She did save his life… again… but what had it done to her? She had now reverted back to her original, reptilian clawdite form, which only then Londo saw in its entirety, and after a shudder of spasms, fell limply unconscious.

Was she alive? Was she dead? How could he know? Do clawdites have hearts in the same places as humans? She didn't even seem to have a pulse.

The room, likely a workshop for repairing droids, had a few dozen of those arachnid droids, halted with their weapons pointed at him. Maybe Londo should take advantage of Zeryn's slice before the ship took control of the room again.

In order to prevent the ship from killing them with those droids, he would have to disable their radio communications, but before that, he could first do a bit of reprogramming of his own. He inserted himself, Zeryn, Ardos and Narla as friendly IDs in their systems, and every other droid in this ship as hostiles. Then, he set most of the droids in the room to roam the ship freely, while also keeping a dozen of them as bodyguards… just in case. Disable their communications, and that was it. Instant mayhem.

A number of those arachnids instantly went out of the room. A glance at Zeryn, and Londo decided to take some of the room's maintenance droids with him to carry her around.

If only he had added the maintenance droids as friendly IDs to the arachnids, though. In a heartbeat the arachnids turned at the maintenance droids, in three laser shots they were decimated. It seemed Londo would have to carry Zeryn, after all.

Maybe he could pull up some sort of ship schematics. In fact, the cruiser had a very comprehensive map available. Londo even pulled some camera feeds from other sectors, such as… the hangar, where an intruder alert had been issued.

Against all odds, against all logic and even common sense, Narla Hal stood at the ship's hangar, battling, alone, a small army of droids. The hangar itself had debris sprawled all over and many, many ships destroyed. Londo could even make out which ships they were by the pieces spread about, and one was a Z-95 headhunter. Narla's ship. She must have come into the hangar and blown several droid ships before the internal turrets finished her ship off.

Which meant neither she nor him had any means of escaping this cruiser.

Londo took another vacc-suit from a locker in the maintenance room and downloaded the ship's schematics to the suit computer. He also strapped one to Zeryn, in case the ship decided to depressurize the room again. He searched for a medbay, or anywhere he could get a medkit to help Zeryn, but there was none to be found. This was an entirely droid ship, and it didn't seem to have any facility dedicated to organics at all. He was lucky the ship even had an internal atmosphere.

Right, so he couldn't help Zeryn. Could he find Ardos? Unlikely. This was, after all, a big ship, and Ardos was just another droid. However… he was a replica droid. Made to look organic even to most sensors. If Londo were to trigger a search for biological signatures around the whole ship… he would probably find Ardos as the fourth signature. However, a ship-wide scan like that would also locate Zeryn and him, and alert the ship to their presence.

He just wasn't ready to lose this advantage. This ship itself could prevent him from reaching Ardos by shutting down doors or raising force fields. Not everyone was an invincible jedi like Narla, who could just head on into an army, so a bit of hacking was still in order. Londo restored the IDs of the ship's droids as friendly to one of his remaining arachnids, restored its radio with a scrambled frequency of his knowing, and set it to move towards the ship's generator, awaiting for his signal.

He could look for Ardos, now. Zeryn's last slice bought him the respite he needed, and Narla would surely draw attention from every droid in the ship. Would she survive, though? Could he abandon her like a used-up tool? He sure wanted to. She surely deserved to. His way through the ship would only get easier without her by his side.

She could also die, and she did came back for them, during the approaching dogfight. Has she earned the slightest gratitude out of him? Crap. Londo would never know, but it seemed that leaving someone behind to die, even someone as insane and as deserving of death as she, was contrary to his nature.

He picked up Zeryn, and started moving towards the hangar.

His new bodyguards surely did their job. Three times, he met other droid groups throughout the ship, which were quickly dispatched by his own arachnids. When he arrived at the hangar, he still had eight remaining arachnids.

Those were nearly instantly put down as Narla jumped at them with her lightsaber swinging like an illuminated razor. Londo advanced, waving his arms.

"Don't strike. These droids are mine!" He yelled, and Narla stopped inches away from cutting down one of the arachnids in half.

She switched off her saber as she made a pose before Londo, with the entirety of the hangar covered in chopped-off droids and electric rubble.

"You took your sweet time. What happened?"

What happen– Londo would not answer that. Instead, he moved towards a console by the hangar wall.

"What's with the clawdite?" Narla asked.

Londo half turned his head at her as he replied with unbridled disgust.

"Her name is Zeryn Dassul, and she nearly died to get me in here. I'm not even sure she is still alive right now."

As he turned around and started sorting through cameras and logfiles, Narla knelt before Zeryn and placed her hand on Zeryn's chest.

"What are you doing?" Londo asked.

Narla replied with a loose voice, almost as if she were half dreaming.

"She is still alive, yes… just… weak… so weak… her whole body is in pain…"

Narla placed both hands on Zeryn's chest, closed her eyes and frowned, as if she were concentrating deeply. Londo moved at her, not entirely sure he understood what she was doing.

Zeryn's body shook, her slitted eyes went wide open as every one of her scales rippled through. A wave of rainbow color passed through her. Londo had never talked to her in her original form to understand the expression she made right then, but he was sure she was surprised.

Narla got up slowly and half stumbled back.

"What did you do?" Londo asked.

"I… transferred some of my vital force into her. Enough to get her conscious again."

Londo frowned.

"Doesn't that weakened you instead?"

"Sure… but I was still at my full. Those droids…" She motioned all around the hangar "They hardly broke my sweat."

Zeryn now sat down on the floor, frowning as much as her mouth was gaping wide.

"You… did it, Narla Hal."

Narla only stared back at her.

"You actually put me in a position where I just have to thank you."

Narla didn't hide her triumphant smile.

"Why… don't mention it, dearie. I do love people owing me their lives."

Somehow, Narla had the knack for spoiling nearly every single action that would make her look better.

"I don't owe…" Zeryn jumped up, and stopped talking as she stumbled to the side.

"Take deep breaths." Narla said. "You are still kind of weak."

"Are you girls done?" Londo asked, as he turned back to the console "I am about to locate Ardos, and when I do we will have to move fast."

Londo brought schematics after schematics as he brought about the sensor interface for as much of the ship as he could. Narla and Zeryn approached him and stood by his side as he worked.

"Londo…" Zeryn said "If you activate all these sensors we will be like a beacon to all of the ship's droids."

"I'm sure he knows that, Zeryn" Narla replied "But then again, after what I just did, aren't we already a beacon for the ship's droids? If not, I have not done my job right."

She was right again, of course, which is why Londo didn't wait a second to start a ship-wide scan.

Three life signs popped up on the ship hangar, and only one more across the whole ship. This new sign stood about halfway to the back of the ship, right at its center.

"I have him" Londo said. "He's in this huge room, just beside the reactor core".

"Right" Narla said, lighting up her lightsaber and turning to the door "Stay back and try to survive, will you?"

"Please, Narla" Londo said "Give me a little more credit. I can get us there without any fighting, and much more quickly." He picked up his communicator, and sent a voice message to his reprogrammed droid "Droid three-four-seven, cut the power."

Narla turned back at him in a whirl. Zeryn frowned even more.

"What did you just do?" Zeryn asked.

"I reprogrammed one of those arachnid droids and sent it to the ship's reactor."

Narla widened her eyes and stepped towards him.

"You are going to blow the reactor? You are not really big on thinking things through, are you?"

"Of course not! I'm just going to cut the power. Do you think I want us to blow away with the ship?"

Narla seemed to be containing her anger – at least as much as she could – as she replied.

"Right. So your plan is to just eject us into space, is it?"

Londo blinked.

"We are in a hangar, you moron, and the only thing keeping us from floating into space is that force field" Narla pointed at the hangar entrance "whose power you just cut!"

Londo turned at Zeryn. Panic surrounded her whole expression. Like one, they all turned towards the hangar door and ran.


	39. Chapter 39

Ean swung his lightsaber at the holocron, but before he could slice it in two, the holocron flew away to the side, towards the hand of a maintenance droid that floated nearby.

"Yes, Ean. I have" was The Watcher's reply.

Ean turned around, at the six-armed droid, half expecting it to strike at him, but it remained unmoving. Instead, the Watcher said.

"That was a brave attempt, but still, utterly predictable. You also forget I designed your brain. I have no need to fight you at all."

An encrypted code entered into his mind, and even though Ean tried to shut down every system it passed through, in split milliseconds, he found himself incapable of moving.

The room's droids loomed closer, so slowly that they seemed to crawl. They forced his arms open and ripped away his shirt. The empty holocron slot in his chest opened against his will.

"Now, Ean Van Tassel, you will become Ardos Camarr once again, and give me all the secrets of the Force".

The droid that held the holocron approached, aligning the holocron with his chest cavity.

Ean tried to struggle, to scream, to send a message of help, but he couldn't in fact move a millimeter. He was not only physically paralyzed; his brain was also incapable of communicating. Inwardly, he screamed. He raged. If he could, he would have done everything, anything to prevent that again. Not only he was about to let the Watcher win… he was also about to lose himself once again. Being Ardos Camarr had been… a clarifying experience, but Ardos was not him, and he would rather end himself before allowing another personality to take him over like that.

He tried just that. He attempted to overload his many, microscopic power cells, but they did not respond. He tried to induce an overburning of his digital brain, but this command was not completed. He couldn't even sacrifice himself. He was utterly, completely helpless.

The droid that held the holocron grasped at his shoulder, adjusted the holocron at the entrance of his cavity.

Maybe he could, at least, prevent the merging mechanism to accepting the holocron, but he couldn't do that as well. He was locked out of his own self.

The droid pressed the holocron into his chest, the connector clamps snatched at the holocron and attempted to bring it in, but the droid did not let go of it. Ean's chest fought against the droid's hand, which wouldn't release the holocron, for some reason.

All lights went off. The droids halted where they were. All of Ean's functions suddenly returned, and he snatched the droid's hand and pulled it out, throwing the holocron away from his chest.

What had just happened? Drowned in darkness, Ean switched his sight to infrared and active radar scanning. As the room "appeared" again in his mind, the diminishing heat and lack of electromagnetic interference around him told him all computers had been turned off. No, more than that. The ship had lost power. Whoever cut the ship's power saved him at the last possible moment.

An array of red lights lit up beside him as the six-armed droid went back online. Ean snatched the holocron from the floor and ignited his lightsaber.

The droid stepped once, twice in his direction as each of his guns pointed at Ean.

"You cannot escape from me, Ean. I am everywhere. Install the holocron now."

Even with the entire ship turned off, the Watcher could still scan him through the combat droid? It seemed there was no way but to fight it, but how could Ean do it? He could, maybe, swing his lightsaber, but he wasn't a real, trained jedi, and that thing had just taken Ardos Camarr. Ean couldn't even merge with the holocron, because Ardos already had a shot against it and failed. Not to mention, if it even touched Ean, it could disable him.

The only option left was to run away. As Ean darted away from the droid, barrage after barrage of ion blasts followed behind him. However, in his mind's map, Ean could sense the direction and intensity of each blast, and as he jumped, skipped left and then right, ducked and rolled, he dodged every one of them.

He left the spherical room he had been towards an immense cylindrical vault filled with suspending passageways and pillars going up and down. Far below, several layers of a force field held together a dancing plasma. Those were the force fields stabilizing the reactor core.

Ean sped through the passageways, but as soon as the combat droid entered the room, it started shooting, and seemed to be aligning his shots just so to prevent Ean from going forward.

From another of the room's entrances, several people ran in. Londo Zaani, Zeryn Dassul, Narla Hal with a number of combat droids alongside them. Could any droid be gladder than Ean at that moment?

Ean ducked behind one of the towers that ran the height of the room as he yelled.

"Londo! Zeryn! You came!"

"Ean?" Zeryn screamed away. The three of them already took cover and shot back at the droid "Is that you?"

"I have unmerged from Ardos. I have his holocron" He waved the holocron at them. One of the droid's shots nearly hit it, and Ean clutched at it again.

Narla Hal jumped away from Londo and Zeryn, crossing the almost entire width of the room. As she landed before the droid, her lightsaber danced.

Ean stood up and tried to scream at her.

"No! Don't strike at it, it's–"

Too late, though. Narla's lightsaber flickered and went off as it hit the droid's cortosis armor. The droid's full complement of guns turned at Narla, but they had to veer away and fire at the other arachnid droids that just closed in on it. Narla jumped back, landing almost beside Ean.

"Cortosis?" She said "Really? How I hate this thing!" She clicked her lightsaber several times until it came back on again.

"This thing is tough." Ean said.

"Oh, is it? Strap on the jedi master, Ean, because your truisms are not helping."

"I can't…" he said, and not only because doing that scared the hell out of him "not right now!"

The Watcher's droid had just dispatched the last of the arachnids as it turned its guns at Ean again. Narla stood up and deflected most bolts, while Ean dodged the remaining ones, but even he could see she had to take two steps back to do it, and standing on a platform as they were, she couldn't keep this up for long.

"We have to leave!" Londo cried out. "Come on, Ean! Narla!"

The droid also heard it, because it stopped shooting at Ean to shoot at a standing platform behind Londo. Its fire cut the platform off and caused it to fall, vertically, blocking their way out of the room.

Narla ducked beside Ean.

"It does seem we need a strategy to beat this thing."

"Zeryn" Londo said, far away "can you blast the exit with a thermal detonator?"

"Only if you want is to blow along with it, Londo. A thermal detonator in this room would take us all with it."

Ion blasts rained back toward Ean as the droid advanced at them. Both Ean and Narla only had lightsabers, which wouldn't even scratch it. Londo and Zeryn were more equipped for this fight, even if their blasters weren't penetrating the droid's armor.

One way or another, separated at they were they couldn't coordinate any kind of attack. Ean got up and ran at them, focusing all of his processing power into evading the droid's shots. Narla came right behind, some of her deflected blasts would eventually pass him by.

Ean slid through the floor and ducked right beside Londo.

"Hi." He said.

Londo stood up to fire another salvo of shots but came down just as quickly as the droid now pinned the four of them down with unrelenting fire.

"That doesn't look good, Londo." Zeryn said.

Londo turned to Narla.

"Can you deflect his blasts enough for us to fire at it?"

Narla clenched her teeth and, maybe for the first time since Ean saw her, seemed uncertain.

"This thing is… Yes, I can. I can." She said, and without waiting for a cue, got up and started swinging her lightsaber.

Londo and Zeryn stood up behind her.

"Shoot up, Zeryn." He said.

The droid was fast approaching them, it would reach them in seconds, but Londo and Zeryn shot at a platform above it, and as it fell, it swung towards the droid hitting it head on, throwing its massive, armored body back and down at a lower level of passageways.

"We did it!" Londo screamed, smiling.

"Londo" Zeryn said, "This thing flies."

"What?"

The roaring sound of a jetpack got louder and louder as the droid appeared right before them, guns firing madly at the four of them. Narla deflected most blasts, but she had to take one, two steps back as each impact seemed to wear her down.

They couldn't win against it. Of course they couldn't. The Watcher must have predicted every resource they had and built a droid tailored specifically to take them down. No strategy, no cover, no counterattack… nothing could overcome this. To beat this thing. They would have to do something it couldn't possibly, ever expect them to do.

Ean couldn't tell how the idea hit him, or even if it would work, but as soon as he thought it up, he knew it didn't matter if it worked or not. He would stop the Watcher one way or another.

"Zeryn" he said "throw me a thermal detonator."

"But–"

"Just do it!"

She threw the palm-sized explosive charge at him. Ean turned it on, switching its timer, got up from his cover and extended his hand holding the detonator at the droid.

The droid immediately turned at him and stopped shooting. Of course. One single stray shot would have the detonator burning them all, including Ean, including the holocron.

Ean approached the droid. Still holding up the detonator at it. Twenty seconds remained before it blew up.

The droid stared at it. At him. Fifteen seconds. Ean stood, immobile. Ten seconds. The droid shook a bit. Five more seconds and they would all die.

The droid snatched the detonator out of Ean's hands, thrust it within its own plate shielding, and flew up.

It suddenly became a sun as the explosion thrust every tiny bit of its components across the room at bullet-speed.


	40. Chapter 40

Narla could hardly believe it when Ean stood face to face with the Watcher's droid holding up an active thermal detonator. It was completely unexpected, utterly insane, and totally reckless. It was pure genius.

The Watcher wouldn't risk its precious creation, even if it meant ending its master combat droid. When it flew away with the thermal detonator, Narla had a split second to crouch, project a wave of telekinetic Force around her and everyone else, and hold off most of the blast.

The entire room lit up, so brightly her eyes hurt to their retinas. Overbearing scorching heat hit her with a wave of instant sweat and aridness that had her throat gasping for air, only to feel it burn its way through her lungs.

Then, the crashing down began. The towers that lined the room, blown apart by the explosion, creaked and twisted in their supports and, severed in half, came crumbling down upon them. A massive fall of debris which would smash them all in an instant if Narla hadn't pushed them away with the Force, and all her willpower.

It was like pushing an oncoming train. No, a falling ship, which is what is was. The sheer weight and suddenness of the tower pieces felt like an insane pressure in her brain, and between the heat and the creaking, deafening sounds and her jutting headache, she knelt down with the effort.

She was the only thing keeping hundreds of tons of metal and equipment from bearing down on them, and still the pressure of it all was so intense that he just couldn't hold on. Slowly, pieces of destroyed tech fell through the cracks in her force push that started to appear. She just had to keep too many things away, too many targets for her power.

They couldn't even escape the room. The Watcher's droid had trapped them in there when it caused the passageway to fall before the room entrance. The one other exit, where Ean and the droid had come from, was just so far she knew she wouldn't hold the falling wreckage long enough for them to escape.

Londo and Zeryn, who likely realized the urgency of the situation, tried, in vain, to remove the passageway from the entrance. Ean came to their help, and among the three of them, they managed to get the fallen platform to creak and groan, although it didn't budge a centimeter.

"I will blow it with a grenade" Zeryn said.

"Gah!" Narla replied, although what she meant to say was: "We have nowhere to hide from this blast and I am not going to be able to hold all that wreckage against another explosion."

Londo took a step back and fired at the passageway with his blasters, though the damage was minimal. Narla felt the crushing weight against her willpower bear her down even more and a loud cracking had part of a severed tower slipping from her force push, falling down below.

She couldn't hold it. That much was clear, but maybe she could… deflect it. Cause all the debris to fall away from them, and then use her telekinetic powers to remove the blocking passageway. Yes, that was likely their one, only chance.

Narla drew a deep breath, and focused the Force in a push that had all of the broken passageways and towers and computers slipping down through the side of the room. As the pressure of all that weight left her mind, while the entire destruction rasped metallically against each other, Narla got up and with the wave of a hand threw the blocking passageway out of the room entrance.

Narla took a step towards that exit, as destruction now rained down around her, but the effort has weakened such that she lost her balance and fell. Londo, Ean and Zeryn, instead of running away, took her by the shoulders and dragged her out of the room.

"Run!" Londo screamed "Run as fast as you can!"

Ean alone held Narla, now. Those lithe robotic arms sure could carry much more weight that they appeared capable of.

A wheezing sound came from the room they just left, like a balloon blowing up in slow motion.

"Why" Zeryn said as she ran beside Londo "Aren't we safe?"

Londo replied between gasps of breath.

"That room was… the central modulator for the reactor core… The debris… will weaken the force fields… around the antimatter… It's already leaking gas… can you hear it? It will blow up!"

"Is there anywhere we can be safe?" Ean asked.

"Run!" Londo said, even though they hadn't stopped running for a second.

They passed through a large, central hallway, a manufacture sector, a room filled with human-sized gyroscopes. In each of them, droid parts and destroyed mechanic limbs twitched around.

They were moving back towards the hangar, when Narla suddenly hit the ceiling.

The earsplitting roar had her covering her ears even as she tumbled through the corridor like a bouncing ball. The entire sector of the ship, likely the entire ship had just buckled up, and from the second and third explosions, Narla could only guess the generator had finally blew up.

The wheezing in her ears drowned out every other sound, even though it seemed Zeryn and Londo were growling in pain beside her. Only Ean seemed unharmed, even though by the way he fell, with his back at a corridor wall, Narla guessed he shielded her from most of the impact.

As the ringing sound died out, Narla could make out Londo's voice.

"Are you guys all right?"

"By all the gods…" Zeryn said "are we really still alive?"

"Seems like it", Ean said. "Though I am not entirely sure for how long."

"What?" Londo said "Why not?"

"Look at that." Ean pointed out.

One of the walls of the corridor they were in was entirely made of duraplast, letting out a view to the space beyond. Before the starry background, the planet Ghelunion loomed, and before the planet, spinning ever so slightly, stood the orbital Station City, so close it almost covered the entire planet.

"The station?" Zeryn said. "What about it, Ean?"

Narla leaned against the corridor wall as she pulled herself up.

"Pay attention to it." Ean said.

Narla stared at the station as Londo and Zeryn shut up and stood, motionless, turned at it. At first, Narla could see nothing much, until the realized she could see less and less of the planet beneath the station.

"Oh, no…" Londo said. "Tell me this is not happening, please!"

It was, though. Clearly, they were approaching the station on a collision course. The reactor explosion likely knocked the dreadnought thrusters out, and caused it to tumble towards Station City.

Zeryn took her hands to her head.

"We are approaching the Station? What's going to happen?"

"Let me break it down for you." Narla said. "Option one, we crash into the station and, by some miracle, we survive. The impact will knock the station off its course towards the planet and everyone in there will fry upon reentry. Option two, we crash into the station and do not survive. The station is still knocked out of orbit and the entire city perishes. Option three, we crash, but the impact is not enough to get the station out of orbit. In this case, all of the station's air that is contained by centripetal force escapes through the breach we open, and everyone in there suffocates to death. In every case, we all die."

Zeryn and Londo stared at her with a half-disbelieving, half panicked look.

"Well, thanks for that comprehensive layout, Narla." Londo said.

Narla weakly waved a mocking bow.

"You are a powerful force-user." Zeryn said "Can't you do something?"

Narla stood up on her own, now.

"You mean move this entire dreadnought out of the way of Station City? No… not even I can do it".

"But…" Ean said "It has been done before, hadn't it? I read that in this one instance, during the clone wars, there was a jedi master called Mace Windu who–"

"Yes" Narla said "I know some few jedis in history may have pulled something like this off before, but I am not them, and I am at my last here. The debris I had to hold off in the reactor back there, that was the limit of my power, Ean".

"But… can't you go beyond your power?" Ean asked. His fear of dying was so clear it nearly seemed genuine, instead of a programmed response on a droid personality.

"And who would teach me how to do it? In the few minutes we have left?"

"Well…" Ean said. "We do have him." He extended the hand with which he still held the holocron of Ardos Camarr.


	41. Chapter 41

Narla picked up the holocron. Could this really work? Could master Camarr teach her something about the Force that, in the instants they had before crashing into Station City, would help them survive?

She spent most of her life looking for a master. Even if it came to nothing, it was only fitting she would die following the teachings of one. She closed her eyes, felt the Force flowing from her into the holocron, and lightly asked it to turn on.

The holocron lit up in her hands and started floating on its own. Beside it, a holographic image came up. A second Ean, only, older. So, the true form of Ardos Camarr was Ean. Only, Ean was its younger version.

"We meet again, my new apprentice."

By the looks on Londo and Zeryn's faces, they, too, had never seen an active holocron before.

"Master", Narla said "We desperately need help. We are in a disabled cruiser on a collision course to an orbital station." Narla pointed at Station City.

The holocron simulated Ardos turning at Station Citi, as if it could really see it.

"Quite a bind." He said.

"Can you help us? Is there something I can do to avoid crashing in there?"

"I have seen you fight, Narla Hal. You are overly dependent on telekinetic abilities. I assume you developed them more than any other. Have you tried moving the ship away from the Station?"

"I… never moved anything that big. Not even close."

"Ah… I see… But you have heard it before, haven't you? That size doesn't matter? All that matters is the Force."

She had, of course. No jedi, not even a youngling as she was, learns to move objects without hearing those words. Still… a capital ship…

"Do it." The hologram of Ardos Camarr said. "Move the ship, Narla Hal."

Alright, she would do it. She would move the ship. Narla closed her eyes. Extended her hands, and felt for the whole of the dreadnought. She sensed it, wounded and broken as it was, immense, still, turning ever so slightly in deep space. She grasped at it with the boundaries of her Force awareness, and commanded it to stop. She pulled it down, away from the station.

If holding off the falling debris of the reactor room had her kneeling down with effort, moving the ship had her panting, surprised, while her Force grip simply slipped away from it. Too much mass, too much weight. It simply wouldn't do.

"It's… too much, master."

"It's an inanimate object. You are one with the Force. No ship will ever be greater than you. Do it!"

Again she focused, extended her feelings, grasped at the ship and pushed it, commanded it, ordered it to move away. Like moving a mountain with a splash of water, the ship seemed immune to her efforts.

Narla knelt down again. More exhausted than she ever remembered being.

"I… I'm sorry, master. It's just…"

"You are trying too hard, woman. You are attempting to exert command over it. As long as you do it, then size and weight will always be factors. Do not project outwards, project inwards. The ship is already tiny. You are already great. Do not extend your efforts away, but turn them inward. You are one with the Force, the ship is a tiny piece of it. It will move because you will move yourself. Again. Do it."

Narla didn't bother to get up. She closed her eyes once more, turned her feelings inward. Sensed her own connection with the force. This took time. How long had she stayed there, still on the corridor floor, breathing in and out, while the ship loomed closed and closer to the station? Any moment, it would crash, and her whole body would be decimated.

At last, she exhaled in frustration.

"You are too focused outwards." master Camarr said. "You would need a strong regimen of meditation and peace before attempting something like this."

"Well, we don't have this time, master." She spat out. The hologram of master Camarr seemed unabashed.

"Let's try something different." The hologram said. "Stand up." She did.

"Now…" master Camarr said as, behind him, Station City now blocked the entirety of planet Ghelunion. "What is it you want in life more than anything else?"

Narla blinked

"What?" This wasn't the time for philosophical teachings. They were about to become frigging splatter.

"Tell me what is it you want in life. What is this one thing you secretly always yearned for, that you really, really want?"

"You want to have this conversation… right now? Here?"

"Well, Narla, think of it this way. You are about to die anyway. You did your best and failed. Why hear me out? What have you got to lose?"

He did have a point, of course. Still… to talk about this before Londo, Zeryn and Ean… three people she have tried to kill… Well, they would die in minutes, wouldn't they? So would she. Oh, heck, why not?

"Alright, master. Alright." She had to close her eyes for this. She couldn't bring herself to talk about it while looking at anyone else. "What I want is a son. I really do."

"Excellent!" master Camarr said. "This is very good, Narla. Now, I want you to picture your son in your mind. He is right here. He is right beside you. Tell me… how is he? Describe him to me."

Narla still wouldn't open her eyes.

"He is… tall… maybe like his father. He has red hair which he took from me, and some freckles to his face…"

"And his personality? How is he?"

"He is… brash. He is a handful. Always getting into trouble. I get so mad at him sometimes… but he is also so happy. He smiles freely. I think he is cheery all the time…"

"Something important just happened to him today. What was it?"

"He… had his first kiss. He thought he was hiding away when it happened, but I watched it from afar. He was so surprised, and also, so peaceful…"

"How did you feel when you saw that?"

"I… I don't know…" Was it her throat tightening? "I wanted to hold him, but I also wanted to let him go…"

"Good, good." Master Camarr said. "Now open your eyes, Narla." Narla did. The expressions in Londo, Zeryn and Ean, staring at her right then, were nearly enough to have her slice them all right there. How dare they intrude upon that moment?

"That station, Narla" Ardos Camarr pointed at Station City "Is going to take your son away from you. It is going to take its mother away from your son. Save him, Narla. Save yourself. Move away from the station. Do it now."

Narla stretched out her hands, and at once, she felt the whole ship within her embrace. Every single room and piece of metal, like part of her own. She shifted, turning herself to the side, and the ship responded. The entire dreadnought stopped spinning, and little by little, it moved away from the station. Narla could feel its movement, its direction, and as it changed, it was not as if she was telling it what to do… no… instead, it was as if the ship itself had decided to veer away, as if it was almost sorry for putting her son in danger.

The Force flowed through her, a cascading dam suddenly released, pouring out at the ship and changing along with it, shifting its path.

A sliver of blue showed up beneath Station City, the planet Ghelunion revealed itself as the dreadnought passed by Station City.

Londo, Zeryn and Ean turned at the glassy wall as the dreadnought slid safely beside the station. Narla could even make out some of the station's windows and little faces staring at them while they floated by.

As suddenly as it came, the rush of Force ceased, like a dammed river would stop to flow. Narla fell down, weak again, although now the smile would just not leave her face.

"I did it… I moved this ship! I did it, master!"

The hologram of Ardos Camarr knelt beside her.

"You sure did, Narla. That is what we, masters, mean, when we say the power lies within you. Consider this your first lesson."

She wanted to thank him even more, but the voice just wouldn't come out. As she exhaled, the whole world turned dark, like a lamplight going out in her room at night, as she held in her arms the son she had just saved.


	42. Chapter 42

Londo, awestruck, pressed at the corridor's glass wall while the cruiser nearly scraped Station City. He had heard about the jedi powers. He even thought he kind of knew their reach and limitations, but Narla and Ardos had just proven how small his imagination had just been. The woman had just moved an entire ship away from collision. How big was this dreadnought? A kilometer long? How much would it all weight? And yet, Narla moved it with only a few encouraging words from Ardos and a hasty meditation session.

He even, in spite of himself, turned to thank her, but she had already passed out.

"Narla" Zeryn said, still staring through the window "I don't suppose you could conjure up a little more…" Zeryn stopped talking as she turned at Narla's unconscious body.

"Oh, no." she Said.

Londo rolled his eyes. More problems? How could that possibly be?

"What now?" He said to Zeryn.

"Well…" she answered, "we are safely out of the station's way… but we are still going to crash on the planet Londo."

Ean, who still stared out of the window, said.

"Oh, no, we won't crash Zeryn. In about two and a half hours this ship will be torn apart in reentry. We will never really get to the crashing alive."

"Well, aren't you two a jolly bunch!" Londo said.

"Well, excuse me!" Zeryn said. "Let's go out and bury our heads in the sand as we are burned alive in the atmosphere, shall we?"

Ean turned to the hologram of Ardos Camarr, which still knelt beside Narla.

"Ardos, can't you do something? Can't we do something? If we merge again, I mean?"

Ardos' image stood up and turned to Ean.

"Not possible, Ean. Although you do have the force chip, and in spite of what the Watcher may believe, I think it would have taken me much more than two hours to learn how to use it if we had merged. In fact, I pretty much suppose it would have been like learning to use the Force all over again. Not something that happens in the spur of the moment, at least, for the task we would need to accomplish. You see, it's one thing to veer a ship like this away for a few degrees, it's another to cause it to overcome the gravity of a whole planet. It just requires… more training. Which neither of us actually has."

"So…" Londo said. "That's it? At the end, we are just going to die as this ship burns in the atmosphere?"

The holocron turned to him.

"Be glad you have all contributed to save Station City, Londo. How many people are there? Tens of millions? They all live on because of you, but fear not your own deaths. All things end. This is not a reason for sorrow. Be at peace." The hologram raised his hand, and disappeared as it shut itself off.

Zeryn turned to Londo and said.

"Well, if this self-serving nihilist jedi were solid I would definitely shoot him right now."

"Londo!" Ean turned to him "Can't the Pilgrim rescue us?"

The Last Pilgrim! If only she hadn't jumped to hyperspace right after Londo and Zeryn jumped out of her.

"Pilgrim went into hyperspace, Ean. She is likely a few lightyears away from us right now. I would need a holonet relay to get in touch with her–"

"But every capital ship has a holonet relay, doesn't they?"

"Yes, they do, but this ship has just lost its generator. All systems are down! We can't call Pilgrim."

Londo, Zeryn and Ean stared at each other in turn, like expecting the silence to give them a miraculous answer.

"Then…" Zeryn said. "how are we still standing? If all systems are down, why are we still standing, and not floating, and still breathing, and not suffocating?"

"Because," Londo said. "In a ship this size every sector has life support and artificial gravity connected to… backup generators! We can do it! We can re-route a backup generator to the holonet relay and call Pilgrim." Londo turned around and started running "Follow me!"

With the ship's schematics in his pad, Londo followed the map until the main communications array. As he did, he said to Ean.

"Ean… do you have radio communication?"

"I do." He said. "I have an antenna running down my spine."

"Tune in channel four hundred and eight. I will send you the ship's schematics. You will have to go to the secondary life support engineering to manually reroute the power."

"I think I can do it, Londo." Ean said as he still carried Narla around like a sack.

"After I call Pilgrim, we will meet back at the hangar."

Londo and Zeryn parted from Ean, carrying Zeryn, as they head for the ship's holonet relay. They arrived in the comm room several minutes later, having had to slowly navigate through droid debris and go around destroyed sections of the ship.

The communication room seemed blessedly, miraculously intact, and Londo guided Ean through the re-routing process as quickly, as precisely as he could. After some trial and error, lights returned to the room and the holonet relay lit up just as they felt themselves getting lighter and lighter.

"I'm done here, Londo. I'll head for the hangar." Ean said through the radio.

Londo pulled up the holonet console and keyed in a few commands, but as he was about to reconfigure it, the whole system rebooted, and again right after.

"What's going on?" Zeryn said as she also typed on another console.

"We don't have enough power. Rerouting the backup generators gave us enough juice to get some systems back, but not enough for the holonet relay to reboot."

Zeryn typed harder and harder on her keyboard until she actually punched it. "Hells! Is this it? Are we going to die like this?"

Londo stared at her as she shook with rage and had her backpack bouncing on her back.

"Maybe not, Zeryn…"

Zeryn stared at him.

"Haven't you brought a rechargeable power pack?"

"Yes… but it was damaged when we hit the ship hull."

"But maybe it's enough! We just need enough power to get the holonet relay to boot up."

Zeryn knelt down and started working. Her hands came out moist as she held the power pack. It was leaking heavily. They would be lucky to get a few seconds of power out of it. Would that be enough?

There would not be time for a complete boot. As Zeryn strapped her power pack on the relay's auxiliary power slot, Londo keyed in the command for a minimal boot. The holonet relay's screen stopped flickering, and the boot log passed by his screen.

Londo typed faster than he ever did as he reconfigured the relay for The Pilgrim's channel. He had to go back one command or two because of a few typos, but in ten, maybe twelve seconds, he managed to send out a text message.

"Come back. We need help. Ship disabled, crashing on the planet. Come through port hangar."

Londo keyed in the "send" command, and while he waited for a reply, the holonet relay rebooted.

No more power. That was it. This was all they would get out of it.

"Did you do it?" Zeryn asked "Did you send the message?"

"I did… I think"

"You think?"

"I couldn't get a response, Zeryn. Power ran out before that. Let's go to the hangar. If Pilgrim got the message, she will meet us there."

Londo lumbered out of the room – running in low gravity was not really possible – while Zeryn said as she followed.

"And if she hadn't?"

Londo did not answer that. He wouldn't consider that. Pilgrim did get his message. He was sure she did. She was The Last Pilgrim. There was no ship like her. She would come. He knew she would.

Ean waited for them, still holding on to Narla. As they arrived, the whole ship juddered. Reentry has started.


	43. Chapter 43

Londo clutched at a support rail as the ship shook ever more violently. Gone was the hangar's force field, replaced by an immense blast door which ran the whole length of its left wall. Even if Pilgrim got to them in time, how would she get in?

Ean busied himself putting on a vacc-suit and suiting-up Narla's unconscious body. Zeryn, beside Londo, stood before a console as she likely tried to slice her way through the Hangar's systems.

Londo turned on his own vacc-suit's magnetic boots and walked towards another console just beside Zeryn.

"I think I can get the blast door open" Zeryn said.

"Well, don't" Londo replied through the radio. The ship now trembled and creaked so loudly that talking became impossible. "This ship is already burning out there. If you open the blast door, scorching air will flood this whole place."

"Then how is the Pilgrim to get in? How are we to get into her?"

"I don't know…" Londo said as he stared all around him. Was there any place nearby where they could be safe?

"I have an idea…" Zery said. "I can use the re-rout you established to turn on one or two force fields on in the hangar. Enough to protect us…"

Her pause more than told Londo there was a "but" to it. She completed.

"We will be without life support, though, and without gravity."

"Well" Londo replied "It's either that or we turn to toast."

"Very well… Londo, Ean. Move towards that corner" Zeryn pointed at the wall opposite to the blast door.

Londo felt very, very light as artificial gravity failed completely and a corner of forced fields showed up at the spot Zeryn indicated. He moved one, two steps towards it, and had to crouch.

Without gravity, every droid piece, every destroyed ship part, every crate and wreckage in the hangar started flying wildly, smashing against each other and, if Londo weren't careful, against himself. Some of those pieces were huge, while others were razor sharp. The hangar suddenly became a shifting labyrinth of death.

Zeryn also dodged and ducked as best as she could, but she still had some charges to her heavy repeating blaster, which she used to clear a path towards the force fields. Londo, on the other hand, had only his pistols, and they were just not enough to blast away the flying, arrow-fast pieces of debris.

Londo dodged one armor plate, ducked a deactivated droid that flew past where he was, but he could not escape the incoming fighter thrown.

His magnetic boots snapped out of the floor as Ean grabbed his back and pushed him away with lightning speed. He held Londo in one hand and Narla at the other.

"What are you doing?" Londo asked.

"Saving you?" Ean replied as he waved Londo away from the path of a blade-like piece of starfighter wing.

"You have no mag boots turned on!"

"They were holding me down. I move better without them." Ean pushed himself against the wall as he flew through the hangar, turning his body around as he carried Londo and Narla, Pulling and pushing them way from the wreckage. As he passed through the inside of the force fields, he pushed Londo into the floor, and as his magnetic boots locked him to the floor, Ean used that as support to halt his own flight. Zeryn came in right after them.

The small force-fielded corner flashed at each piece of wreckage hat hit it, which meant that Londo could hardly see the outside of the hangar through all that blueish waving energy patterns.

"Everyone safe?" Londo asked.

"I think so" Zeryn replied.

"So we wait."

"For how long?" Ean asked?

"Not much" The Pilgrim replied in their radio channel.

"Pilgrim!" Londo could cry right then "Am I glad to see you! Where are you?"

"I'm right outside the hangar, Londo."

"Okay!" Zeryn said "I'm opening the blast door."

Screeching with a maddening, ear-blowing sound, the hangar blast door retreated ever so slowly as the multitude of debris flew out of it, making way for yellow-hot glowing scorching air to enter and burn everything in the hangar to a crisp.

The ship shook so strongly as the hangar opened that Londo's mag-boots nearly failed. Ean was thrust up, but held on to Zeryn at the last instant, before he exited the force field boundaries.

Outside the hangar door, beyond the glowing flames and thunderous turbulence, The Pilgrim flew beside the cruiser. Its heavily damaged left side thrusters created a trail of smoke beneath it as it shook just as violently as the cruiser.

"Londo… I have a problem." The Pilgrim said, so utterly calm given the circumstances "I cannot level with the hangar. The turbulence is just too much."

"Is the tractor beam active, Pilgrim?" Londo screamed out, even though he likely didn't have to.

"No. It was destroyed in the firefight."

"Do you have counterthrusters?"

"Ten out of twelve."

"You can do it, Pilgrim. Come in nice and easy. Level your hull, counterthrust the turbulence. Use the hangar door frame as a point of reference."

The Pilgrim approached the Hangar, but as she did so, the shaking of the hangar nearly had her smashing against the outer hull. She retreated a bit, and approached again, only to nearly miss being knocked away again.

Beyond her, the sky wasn't deep maroon anymore, it was bright cyan. They were already in deep atmosphere. Now long did they have? Minutes? Less than a minute?

"I can't Londo. It's too wild."

"Londo" Ean said "can't you take remote control of the Pilgrim? Bring her in yourself?"

"With what interface, Ean? This vacc-suit wasn't made for this. There's no software here to connect me with Pilgrim's flight controls."

Ean thrust Narla into Zeryn's arms. "Hold her" he told Zeryn. He turned at Londo, took off his own vacc-suit gloves and touched Londo's helmet with both hands.

Line upon line of code showed up before Londo's visor at blinding speed. Progress bars that filled instantly and were replaced by more machine code flashed up in hundreds of text boxes that popped in and out.

"What… are you doing, Ean?"

Ean didn't reply. He seemed deep in thought, like a meditating jedi, only, he was his own kind of technological wizard.

At last, Ean let go of him. Projected upon Londo's helmet visor, the commands for Pilgrim's flight controls showed up in a three-dimensional interface which nearly perfectly mimicked Pilgrim's cockpit.

"I have programmed a remote control interface and recompiled the vacc-suit kernel with it. Now you can remote-control Pilgrim."

Londo blinked, amazed, while Pilgrim said.

"That's right, Londo. I can see your suit as a new device on my thruster control interface. Oh… Ean… that was so… hot!"

Londo had a quip remark to that, but thought it better to save their lives first. He extended his hands and touched virtual flight-sticks as he realigned Pilgrim's thrusters, checked her balance and analyzed the turbulence pathways.

Slowly. Dangerously, deathly slowly Pilgrim stopped shaking in relation to the cruiser. One slip and it would be crushed in half. A smallest error and it could smash against them. Londo thrust it into the hangar. She hit the hangar ceiling once, almost scraped its right wing against the wall. Londo reverted her artificial gravity and used it as a support against the hangar floor and ceiling. At last, The Pilgrim turned its back on them and landed.

"You did it!" Zeryn said!

He sure did, but as he opened The Pilgrim's hangar ramp, how were they going to get into it? Between them and The Pilgrim's own shields, the blazing heat would sear their vacc-suits, burn at their skin and eat their bones alive.

""Come on, Londo!" Pilgrim said. This ship will crash any moment now!

Londo couldn't find a way to do it. The only way to walk there was with their magnetic boots, and they were just too slow for that.

The force field protecting them blinked out for a moment, and in that moment the heat and turbulence burned a few holes in their suits. They leaked their cool atmosphere now, and whatever time they had was just reduced to a handful of seconds.

Ean grabbed Londo, lifted him up and threw him at the Pilgrim entry ramp. Londo flew across the hangar, into the Pilgrim's cargo hold and hit his back against the Pilgrim's inner wall before he could even cry out. As he got up, dazed and dizzy, another body hit the wall beside him. Zeryn.

He recovered in time to see another body thrown into the Pilgrim. Narla.

Only Ean himself remained, but as he held on to the hangar wall, the force fields finally died out, and the blazing heat blinded any sight he had beyond Pilgrim's shields.

"Londo." Pilgrim said "I have to leave now. We have no time."

"Wait, Pilgrim!" Where was Ean? Was he still there? Yes, he was there, that was his body beneath the flames. "Hold on, Pilgrim."

"Londo!" The Pilgrim screamed.

Something hit Pilgrim's cargo hold wall, bounced towards them and rolled on the floor. Ean Van Tassel. Scorched suit, exposed armored chassis underneath his burnt-out skin, but he still moved.

"Go, Pilgrim. Go, go, go!"

The Last Pilgrim sped away from the dreadnought cruiser, trailing smoke forming a split path against the dreadnought's descent into the planet. She veered up, away from Ghelunion, away from that system, towards the blessed safety of space.


	44. Chapter 44

Ean Van Tassel came into the Pilgrim's common room as he woke up. The second day of its repairs and his scorched skin had already completely grown back. Not a scar remained from his experiences at the Watcher's dreadnought.

Londo and Zeryn seemed at the end of their breakfast. Zeryn now used the body of a very dark-skinned human with rich curly hair who everyone thought was the station manager for the repair docks they were in, who had just got back from vacation.

"… then tell me this, Londo," Zeryn said "remember when we were at the top of the dreadnought's hull facing against the arachnid droids?"

"Zeryn, I believe we can both agree none of us will ever forget that."

"Oh, yeah. So, when you asked for my ion grenades, and threw them up, and the droids were surrounded by lightning… what happened back then? How did you know that was going to happen?"

"Oh!" Londo smiled "That was a Providence-class dreadnought, right? These ships used something called normalized-hull-polarization to strengthen their hull against impacts. This means their hulls are ionizeable. When you threw me the ion grenades, I switched their charge and threw them up as you threw yours down. You polarized the hull with negative charge, and I polarized whatever was above them with positive charge. But what was above them? The cruiser shields. So for a brief instant, all of the energy of the cruiser's shields connected with the ship's hull. I short-circuited the shields and the hull. No droid could ever survive that."

"Wow…" Ean said. "Remind me to never go walking outside the hull of a capital ship."

"That," Londo said, pointing his glass at Ean "is always a sound advice. Believe me!"

Ean sat down on a sofa, ordering via radio a breakfast of his own, when Zeryn asked.

"Ean, ever since we found you fighting the Watcher droid you have been doing a lot of new stuff. It seems you suddenly know how to use your whole body. How did you learn all that?"

Ean half smiled as he answered.

"Well, I remember everything I thought and did when I was merged with Ardos Camarr, and one thing I did back then was I meditated a lot on my systems and my components, so I got to know myself pretty well. When I unmerged with him, the knowledge of all that remained with me."

"So you mean to say have all of Ardos Camarr's knowledge?" Londo asked.

"Oh, no, nothing like that. I only remembered what I thought and did, but most of Ardos' knowledge is still locked away in his holocron. If I had spent some time and recalled everything Ardos ever learned while we were merged, I would likely have all of his knowledge, but, seriously, that would have taken a lot of time. A lot."

The door to another of the crew quarters opened up and a fourth person entered the room, a red-haired woman with a sleepy face and muscled body, wearing one of Londo's t-shirt, a small underwear and nothing else. Narla seemed oblivious to the silence that descended as she came into the common room and prepared herself a hot coffee.

She sat down on a sofa across Londo and Zeryn. Only after her first sip did she stared back at Londo and said.

"What?"

Londo looked down and sighed a tired, worn-out sigh.

"We did went through some stuff, didn't we, Narla Hal?"

Narla raised her eyebrows in an expression of someone who knows there's more to it. Londo went on.

"I guess what I am trying to say is…"

As he paused longer than Narla's patience would allow, she said.

"That I tried to kill you guys a few times, then I saved your lives a few times, then you saved my life a few times, and now we all don't really know how we stand on that whole killing-saving balance."

"That was… aptly put" The Pilgrim said through the intercom.

"Take my cue, Londo Zaani. Just say nothing."

Londo stared right at her.

"I do feel I must say something, though."

Narla rolled her eyes.

"Must you?"

"I guess…" Londo inhaled deeply before moving on "whatever you did before meeting us, after all that happened, Zeryn and I agree you earned… and you need… this." Londo put the holocron of Ardos Camarr on the table.

Zeryn sat up, eyes just a little wider than before, as she slowly took the holocron. She closed her eyes and seemed once again to be controlling herself as she said.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Zeryn said.

Zeryn clutched at the holocron as if it were her second heart. Ean vaguely scratched at his own chest.

"I suppose right now you are fighting the urge to just toss me out of the ship and forget I ever exist, are you not?"

Zeryn looked down, Londo opened his mouth, but it was Pilgrim who first answered.

"I would like to remind you, Narla, that I am right here, and I alone get to decide who comes and who goes into my rooms. If you are here, it's because I alone want you as guest."

"Why, Pilgrim…" Londo said. "You could at least give me the illusion of control, couldn't you?"

"I guess I could, Londo. My debt of gratitude to you is greater than can ever be repaid, but I am also beyond caring what organics think. It's a new day in the galaxy, Londo Zaani, a day where replica droids can feel the force, sentient planets control our every move and mad scientists interface technology with religion. Who am I? I am just a sentient ship, but I am my own self from now on."

Zeryn raised her eyebrows. "I'll drink to that" she said.

Londo reclined in his sofa, turning at Ean almost like he wanted to shift the conversation to another topic.

"I guess the great question now, Ean, is what are you planning to do from now on?"

What, indeed? He could disappear, like Londo did from the corporations that still hunted him. He could maybe go to the galactic capital of Hosnian Prime and blow the whistle on what has been done to him, and the existence of the Watcher. But what, among all options, would be the best?

"Well, I don't think the Watcher is ever going to stop hunting me, Londo…" Ean started, saying it as he also thought it over "I don't know if he can truly predict our every move, if he can see what we will do in advance or not… but one way or another, I am both his best option at using the Force, and the greatest threat to his existence. He will have to come after me. So the question really is… what am I going to do about him?"

"Yes," Narla said, as she turned to Ean "what?"

"I will fight back, that's what I will do." Even as he said it, he knew he just had to do it "I am not going to wait for him to find me, I will take the fight to him… But I cannot do it myself, right now. I found out, the worse way, that I was built with certain contingencies that allow the Watcher to take complete control of my body. I have to find my other makers, doctor Revennus Khran and the woman who calls herself my mother, the Corsair, and somehow get them to remove those contingencies from me. So… That's what I will do, Londo. I will look for my mother."

Ean got up, staring at each one in the room in turn.

"Am I going to do it alone?"

Narla was up before anyone else.

"Are you kidding? Going against a droid army commanded by a sentient planet? That's what I call a fight! What a way to put to practice everything master Camarr will teach me! Oh, I'll help you out, Ean Van Tassel."

Ean didn't expect Narla's help, of all things, but she was powerful, he had to concede her that.

"Well, I can't let you go along with Narla without someone to keep an eye on her, Ean" Londo said. "She is a person who needs constant supervision, you know? So I will go along as well."

"Yes, Ean." The Pilgrim said. "We droids have to stick together, you know. I am sure you would like the sleekest ship in the galaxy helping you out as well."

Ean turned at Zeryn.

"What about you, Zeryn Dassul?"

Zeryn got up with a half-smile.

"Well… we do need cash, you know. You guys are a magnet for trouble, and where there's trouble, there's opportunity, so I think I will stick around and, who knows, maybe I will even make a few credits along the way."

Everyone stole a glance at one another.

"Is this a hugging time?" Narla asked. "Because if it's a hugging time then I guess I'll go meditate in my room."

Ean could not contain his smile. Who knows what dangers he would plunge into, but unlike when he first woke up in Nar Shaddaa, this time, he wasn't alone. He had found people who stood by him, out of bonds forged in ancient jedi temples, in the plasma bolts of the fight against droid armies and in the heat of reentry. He may never know peace such as when he first woke up, but he earned something else. He earned himself. He earned friends, and maybe, just maybe, that was just the next best thing.

The End of

The Aberrant Son.


End file.
